Softer Side
by Taechunsa
Summary: What kind of changes would it make if the Ranma who met the Tendo’s wouldn’t fight? What if he was actually nice and thoughtful? *INDEFINITE HIATUS*
1. A Small Difference

**Softer Side**

Version 3-4.9.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 1: A Small Difference **

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Author's Notes:

I have finally found a pre-reader. He is doing an excellent job on helping me refine my writing style and making my story more consistent. So I want to say, thank you Ghost in the Machine.

Every chapter of The Softer Side has been rewritten so please reread them.

The biggest design change that I made was to combine the old chapters two and three into the new chapter 2. I then cut a lot of the material in which there was no change from the manga.

There are major storyline changes in new chapters two and three. There are some minor storyline changes in new chapter one and four. And I have now posted a new chapter five.

I hope that this rewrite has made the story better and more enjoyable to read.

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What happened in the manga cannon universe.

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Genma and a young Ranma were walking down the streets of a town. 

Genma was looking at a paper with directions on it, as he talked to himself, "Okay. Walk down 3rd Street until you come to Sakura Avenue. When you reach Sakura Avenue take a right and walk straight for one and a half miles."

"Hey Pop, there's Sakura Avenue ahead."

"Good. We'll be at that temple before nightfall for sure now."

When the pair reached the corner they stopped and checked the street signs to make sure it was the correct road. Then without looking around they turned right and walked on.

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What happened in this universe.

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Genma and a young Ranma were walking down the streets of a town. 

Genma was looking at a paper with directions on it, as he talked to himself, "Okay. Walk down 3rd Street until you come to Sakura Avenue. When you reach Sakura Avenue take a right and walk straight for one and a half miles."

"Hey Pop, there's Sakura Avenue ahead."

"Good. We'll be at that temple before nightfall for sure now."

When the pair reached the corner they stopped and checked the street signs to make sure it was the correct road. 

Then Genma looked to his left and saw a wad of money lying on the sidewalk next to an alley. With the promise of free money he, of course, went left. "Hoo! Hoo! Boy looky what I found," Genma crowed as he neared the money and leaned over to pick it up.

Ranma looked at the wad of bills as Genma counted them. "Wow, how much is there?"

Genma continued to count the money and nearly fell over. "There's nearly 100,000 yen here boy," he boggled as he hid away the money lest the rightful owner notice it missing and see him with it.

"Wooo! I ain't never seen that much money," Ranma exclaimed in excitement.

As Genma was looking around to make sure that no one saw him pick up the cash he noticed an odd shop down the alleyway. The sign outside of the shop read 'Exotic Martial Arts Supply Store.'

"Hey boy. Let's check out that shop. Maybe they have something that can help us train."

"Okay."

The pair walked down the alley and into the shop.

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A bell on the door rang when Genma entered the store.

Looking around he didn't see anyone and decided that it was his lucky day.  Now he could get what he wanted and not have to give up any of his new money.

Just then a little wrinkly old man came rushing to the front to greet the customers. When he spied them he slowed down and eyed Genma carefully. "May I help you young man?"

Genma threw the idea of trying to steal anything right out the window. This old man frightened him. He reminded him in some ways of Happosai. "Yeah, I am looking for anything that I can use to study advanced martial arts."

"Ah. You've come to the right place then. We have the best selection of advanced martial arts materials in all of Japan. Are you looking for a particular item or manual?"

"Manuals would be good, but nothing in particular."

"Ah then, follow me."

"Hey boy, stay here and stay out of trouble."

"Okay Pop."

Genma followed the old man to the back of the store and into a side room. The walls were filled with old books and scrolls.

"So how advanced are you looking for?"

"Very advanced. As advanced and powerful as you have."

"Ah, I see. Then you will want to look in here," the old man said as he walked to a pair of small recessed metal doors set in the wall.

The old man touched his hand to the doors and said something that Genma didn't understand. When the old man was done the doors opened a little. He then pulled the doors the rest of the way open. There were about a dozen manuals in the case.

Genma picked up the first one and looked through it. It was nothing that he wanted. He then picked up the next and skimmed through it. Again, nothing that he wanted.

"What is it that you are looking for? Maybe I can be of assistance in finding it," offered the old man.

"I'm looking for an ultimate technique. A technique that is so powerful that it is nigh, unstoppable," replied Genma.

"Those techniques are generally very dangerous youngster. Are you sure that it is worth it?"

"Yes."

The old man reached in and pulled out a book about the third from the left and handed it to Genma. "Okay then. How about this one?" 

Genma looked at the book and read the title. "Nekoken. Nah, the boy already knows this," Genma said as he handed the book back.

The old man nearly dropped the book. He couldn't believe that the manual was for the man's son, and he had already trained the boy in the Nekoken. The old man realized then that the man was a fool and maybe his family's salvation. Perhaps, the boy would even be strong enough to survive the training. "Oh, I see," the old man said as he reached in the bottom shelf. "What you need is a truly advanced and powerful technique then. I might have just the thing for you." He pulled a scroll out of the seemingly empty bottom shelf. "This scroll contains the techniques for a training regimen called the Soul of Shiva. The Soul of Shiva was a regimen designed to make a warrior who could counter the Nekoken. Some say it is even more powerful then the Nekoken. It was sealed away thousands of years ago. In fact, since my family came into possession of this scroll over four hundred years ago we have never found another. It is rumored that none of the manuscripts survived. But, that is obviously incorrect," the man explained to Genma who was now drooling.

"Wow," Genma looked in awe, "more powerful than the Nekoken."

"However, it is a very, very dangerous regimen. When my ancestors were traveling to find the translation for the scroll they heard many stories. All agreed that nearly everyone who tried the regimen did not survive it, but those that did were unbeatable by almost anything. Are you sure that this is what you want? Is it truly worth risking your boy's life?"

"My boy is prepared to give his life for the art. I will make sure that he becomes the strongest martial artist ever," Genma stated proudly.

"Great strength can sometimes be a curse youngster. There are some things best left alone," the old man warned.

"I know. I know. Now how much?"

"Since we came into possession of the scroll over four hundred years ago and have never had a serious purchaser in all of that time I will accept 60,000 yen for the manual and 20,000 yen for the translation."

"You can keep the translation. I can get that myself."

"It took my family twelve generations and hundreds of years to complete and verify the translation. Do you have that much time?"

Genma paused in thought. "No. I guess I'll take the translation also," Genma said as he handed over the money and took the scroll.

"It was good doing business with you and I wish your son the best of luck," replied the old man. *May the gods have mercy on my soul for what I have done, but maybe the boy can survive and destroy the scroll. If not, my family has suffered long enough from its curse. Let that fool's family suffer for his ignorance for a few generations,*__the old man thought as the pair left.

As soon as the pair was out the door the old man locked the door and flipped the closed sign. He then went to the phone and dialed a number. After a bit of waiting he spoke. "Hello. It's me. I finally got rid of the scroll."

"Yes. I warned him repeatedly, and told him what it did and the risk involved."

"I know. I feel bad too. He's going to train his son in it. The poor boy is only about 12."

"Yes, but he has mastered the Nekoken already. So, I think that he is the best candidate in nearly three thousand years to destroy it."

"Yep, it is time to move again. Have the boys come over here as soon as possible. I'm going to start packing. Whatever happens, this is not a good place to be anymore."

With that the old man hung up the phone and started to pack away his things. He silently wished the boy good luck. He hoped that he had done the right thing and that the boy could succeed where none of his ancestors ever could. 

A single tear ran down his cheek.

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When Genma and Ranma left the store they headed towards the temple as they originally planned.

"Hey Pop, what'd you buy in there?"

"A very powerful technique that I will train you in as soon as you're ready. It'll make you the best martial artist in the world," Genma smiled at his son. Noticing his son's lack of extreme enthusiasm Genma became a little upset. "Don't you want to be the best Ranma?"

"Yeah, I guess," Ranma replied half-heartedly. He still remembered the last ultimate technique that Genma had found.

"Good," replied Genma missing his son's reservations completely.

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	2. Here’s Ranma

**Softer Side**

Version 3-4.7.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 2: Here's Ranma**

"Mr. Tendo! Your mail!" cried the postman.

Soun went and received the mail from the postman and thanked him. He looked through the mail until he came to a postcard. He turned it over and read it.

            'Tendo,

            Hi.

            Bringing Ranma from China.

            Saotome'

"R… Ranma? Coming here? Oh, how I've waited for this day!" Soun cried as he went to gather his three daughters for a family meeting.

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A panda and a young girl in Chinese clothes were walking down the street.

"Yo, Pop! What're we doing here, anyway?"

'We're going to see a good friend of mine,' read the sign that the panda held.

"Why? We need to continue my training."

"Say isn't that a panda?" said one startled bystander.

"That is a panda isn't it?" asked another.

'We are boy, Tendo is another master of the Anything Goes School. His family's style might accommodate your condition better then ours. There is also a promise we must fulfill,' read a myriad of signs as the panda held them up.

Skeptically Onna-Ranma asked, "What promise is that Pop?"

The panda nervously held a sign, which read, 'I'll tell you when we get there.' He hoped that if they were around others when he told his son, he might not get killed.

The girl just wondered what kind of mess he was going to get into.

The pair continued down the street in silence.

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Back at the Tendo dojo Soun and his daughters were discussing Ranma.

"What kind of guy is this Ranma?" Kasumi persisted.

Soun coughed, "No idea."

"'No idea?'" asked Nabiki in disbelief.

"I've never met him."

Just then there was a knock at the door.

Kasumi stood to greet whomever was at the door. "We have visitors."

"OOOO! It must be Ranma!" exclaimed Nabiki happily as she ran to great the guest.

"Saotome my friend! We've been waiting!" yelled Soun as he raced after his middle daughter.

Kasumi and Akane were thinking various negative thoughts as they slowly followed. They hadn't taken a couple of steps, before their father and Nabiki came running back into the family room followed by the panda and Onna-Ranma.

"Pop, you're scaring them spitless! I swear sometimes you are as dumb as a rock," Onna-Ranma to the panda flatly.

"Father, _this_ is your friend?" asked a concerned Kasumi.

Soun vigorously shook his head in the negative.

"Oh. So this _panda_ just decided to _visit_! Happens all the _time_!" Nabiki replied loudly.

The panda pushed Onna-Ranma forward and towards the others. Soun leaned over to look at him. He asked in bewilderment, "You… wouldn't be…"

"Ranma Saotome. Sorry 'bout this," replied the girl.

"At last! You've come!" cried Soun as he grabbed Onna-Ranma by the arms.

"Oooo! He's cute," replied Nabiki happily, while Akane was looking a little upset.

"It's so good of you to come," Soun said as he hugged Onna-Ranma and then froze as his eyes doubled in size. He quickly pushed away from Onna-Ranma and started to sweat. At this action the girls took a closer look at Onna-Ranma. 

Nabiki walked up to Onna-Ranma, and 'hmmmmed' as she poked him in the chest.

"Um… Could you stop that?" asked Onna-Ranma nervously.

Nabiki was angry. "He's a _girl_." How could her father expect them to marry a girl?

Soun fainted at his thoughts being confirmed.

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The family all gathered in the family room to discuss the problem of Onna-Ranma's gender. Akane took pity on Onna-Ranma after Nabiki ruthlessly kept poking him in the breast and insulting him, and asked her guest to spar in the dojo.

The pair walked out to the dojo.

"I'm Akane. You want to be friends?" Akane asked with a cute smile.

Onna-Ranma couldn't help but smile back. He had virtually no friends because of his lifestyle.

"You do kempo, don't you?" asked Akane.

"I used to. I still study martial arts, but I haven't practiced kempo in a while. Why?"

Akane smiled again. "I thought that we could have a little match, okay?" 

"Huh?"

"Just for fun. Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

"If you say so."

Akane lost her smile then as she started to concentrate. She took up a standard attack stance and waited for Onna-Ranma to do the same. When he didn't, Akane waited for a while and then decided to attack with a simple jab to warm them up.

Akane shot across the gap between the two and jabbed with a simple left expecting Onna-Ranma to block to the left. Which he didn't do. Instead, he jumped straight up and tucked his legs under him with his arms at his sides for a quick block if needed.

Akane was surprised to say the least. She reevaluated her opponent quickly and tried for a high kick while Onna-Ranma was still airborne and more vulnerable. At least that is when she thought that he was more vulnerable. Instead, Onna-Ranma did the splits in mid air to keep his body just above Akane's kick.

Akane backed off just a bit and rethought her strategy as Onna-Ranma landed and assumed the same relaxed pose that he had at the beginning of the match.

Akane decided to increase her speed to about seventy-five percent and try again with a little different combo. Akane again closed the gap between the two quickly. Starting again with the left jab, this time Onna-Ranma did go to the left but instead of blocking to the left he simple bent to the left at the waist. Akane followed with a mid-level kick from her right foot. Which Onna-Ranma quickly leaned under.

Akane backed off in exasperation. "What's wrong? Swing at me." Akane was now getting a little upset. She was the best in the area and this newcomer was avoiding her easily. Onna-Ranma also wouldn't attack her back. It was almost like the girl didn't respect her abilities. Akane decided to go at nearly ninety percent this time and try a different tactic again. She would teach the girl to underestimate her.

"I don't attack," Onna-Ranma replied calmly.

Akane was taken aback a bit by this. Maybe he wasn't insulting her. Akane decided not to risk it and show her opponent how good she really was. She again closed the small distance between the two and this time tried several quick jabs with her left. Onna-Ranma simply dodged around all of Akane's jabs as if they were barely moving.

Akane backed off a couple of steps again. She was breathing hard from all of her exertion. Onna-Ranma was still just standing where he originally started in that same relaxed stance.

Akane was at a complete loss. *Why… Why am I missing her? Is she reading my moves? Okay. This time FOR REAL!* Akane took an extremely aggressive stance and closed the distance at her maximum speed. She put all of her strength and all of her speed behind her punch and it went right where Onna-Ranma was, and then through the wall of the dojo. Onna-Ranma for his part spun quickly to the left and was now behind Akane. Onna-Ranma tapped Akane on the back of the head, signaling the end of the match.

Akane was amazed. She had barely seen Onna-Ranma spin to the left and then the match was over. This girl was good.

Onna-Ranma chuckled a little and smiled a bright smile at Akane. Soon Akane started to laugh and Onna-Ranma joined her.

"Your pretty good," Akane admitted after clearing her throat.

"Thanks. So are you, but you really need to work on not telegraphing your left jab." Onna-Ranma had learned over the past year that no one liked to be made a fool of. He also learned that if you beat someone and then offered some advice it tended to make the defeat go over better. This makes the other person feel as if you care about how they do and want them to get better. It was one of the many social combat skills, as Genma liked to call them, which he had picked up in the last year.

"Well, I'm just glad you're a girl," Akane said.

"Huh?" 

"It's just, I'd really hate to lose to a boy!" Akane replied as she headed towards the exit of the dojo.

*This isn't going to go over too well,* thought Onna-Ranma after Akane left.

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"Akane! Bath's ready," Nabiki told Akane as she walked down the hallway.

Akane turned and headed toward her room. "Thanks." She picked up her towel and clothes and then went down to the bathroom. She entered the main area and got undressed. Then grabbed her towel and walked into the bath and froze. Getting out of the tub was a guy. He was well muscled and had long dark hair put up in a ponytail. This wasn't what shocked her however. What shocked her was the fact that he was naked and she was naked and they were naked together. Then the guy turned around quickly and sunk back into the furo and Akane received a second shock. Running pretty much the entire length of his back diagonally from his left shoulder to his right hip were four long scars.

"Um… I… I'm sorry Akane. I should've locked the door or something," Ranma stammered out trying to apologize to his newfound friend.

Akane was stunned. There was a strange man in the bath and he had seen her naked. On top of that he knew her, but she had no idea who he was. She quietly backed out of the room, closed the door, put on her gi top, and exited the bath. Then she screamed.

"Well that could've went better," said Ranma as he checked that the dressing room was empty before entering and dressing.

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Akane was at a loss. That boy had seen her naked. Was it a mistake? It couldn't have been. How would someone mistakenly end up in the wrong house _and_ the wrong bath?  He must have been just waiting for an opportunity to peep on her, but if he wanted to peep why did he turn away? All of this was thought as she ran down the hall screaming. 

She had to make a decision quickly. So, is he a pervert or not? He was naked in their bath; therefore he must be a pervert. With that decided Akane let her anger loose and looked for the best way to kill the pervert. She looked out into the yard and found her weapon of choice. *The large stone lantern top, yeah that'll do nicely,* thought Akane as she picked up the heavy piece of stone. "I'll weigh him down! I'll drown him in the bathtub!" yelled Akane.

Nabiki asked in confusion, "Akane, what is it? What's that for?!"

"There's a _pervert_ in the bathroom!" cried a now righteously angry Akane.

"Why don't you just kill him with your bare hands?" Nabiki asked with a little sarcasm.

"Because I'm AFRAID! He looked tough and had these scary _scars_!"

"That's odd. Ranma was in the bath just now," Kasumi added with a worried look on her face.

As the three girls continued to talk the boy in question came walking down the hallway.

"Uh… Who… Who…" Kasumi tried to get out.

"Who are _you_?" asked a little more vocal Nabiki.

"Um… I would be the scary pervert in the bath, I guess. Sorry about that," Ranma replied with a blush on his face.

The three girls were stunned. Since when did a pervert just walk up to someone and blush while apologizing?

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Sorry about this," Ranma finished as he absently played with his pigtail in worry.

This really stunned them.

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Everyone was seated in the Tendo family room. The three Tendo girls were on one side and the two Saotome males were on the other. Soun was in the middle.

"I'll explain it once more. This is my dear old friend…"

"…Saotome Genma. And this is my son…"

"…Ranma," Ranma said nervously as he stared at Akane.

Akane looked at Ranma like she wanted to kill him, while she chewed on the index finger of her left hand and clutched the hem of her dress with her right.

"What's this all about?" asked a confused Nabiki.

"Are you really _her_? That same girl?" asked a just as confused Kasumi.

"Hmmm. Where should I begin? I know…" Genma said as he attempted to throw a glass of water on Ranma.

Ranma dodged the water and glared at his father.

"What did you do that for, pop?" Ranma asked menacingly.

Genma was at a loss. "Um… I was trying to demonstrate the curse?"

Ranma grumbled as he grabbed another glass of water and poured it over his head.

The three Tendo girls just stared at the girl who sat where the boy did before.

"Mmm?" intoned Nabiki.

"Now he's a _girl_!" exclaimed Kasumi.

"Ohhh. My own son. So humiliating. So humiliating." Genma said through the tears that now flowed down his face.

Onna-Ranma had heard enough. He grabbed a bucket from nowhere and threw the water on Genma. "Who are _you_ to talk?!"

"Daddy? Why are you friends with them?" Kasumi asked.

"They weren't like this before! Not before they went to China… and undertook that terrifying training exercise!"

After Genma and Onna-Ranma soaked in the furo and everyone was back in the family room, they told their tale.

****************************Flashback****************************

Jusenkyo, a valley filled with hundreds of pools with bamboo poles sticking out of them. Genma, Ranma, and the Guide were standing next to some of them.

"Here Sir. Is legendary training ground of accursed springs."

"Are you ready Ranma?"

"How is this place supposed to help me?"

Genma ignored Ranma's question while he opened up his pack and threw some pads to Ranma He then pulled out some padding for himself.

"You very strange one, no, sir? This place very dangerous. Nobody use now. Is more than one hundred spring here and every one have own tragic legend!"

Genma now dressed in a thick chest and back protector with thigh and forearm guards, leapt towards a pole in the springs.

"Follow me Ranma!"

"Ah! Sir! What you doing?"

Ranma, now wearing hand and foot pads, leapt onto a pole close to his father.

"Pop, I think that the guide was trying to tell us something."

"Nonsense boy, I know what I'm doing. Now, you are to avoid my attacks while balancing on the poles. Also, try to tap me in counter-attack, but control yourself. Don't access your battle aura." Genma told Ranma as he assumed a crane stance.

"Okay," Ranma replied while balancing on one foot, pulling his arms across his chest in an 'X', and closing his eyes.

"Please sir! Very bad you fall in spring!"

Genma leapt toward Ranma with a yell. Ranma still had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply. When Genma was a few feet from kicking the relaxed boy, Ranma flashed his eyes open and leapt over his father while tapping him on his leg guard, forearm, and chest several times. The tap on his chest was stronger than Genma had expected. This caused him to falter when he landed on the pole. With a yell Genma lost his balance and fell into the pool below it.

Ranma had landed agilely on a pole off to the side of the pool that Genma had fallen in.

"Come on Pop! We ain't got all day!"

Just then a giant panda leapt from the pool and landed on a pole across from Ranma.

"Wha… Wha… Wha… ?"

"That spring of drowned panda! There is tragic legend, very tragic of panda who drowned there two thousand years ago! Now whoever fall in that spring… take body of panda."

As the guide was saying this to Ranma, Genma leapt to a new attack.

"Oh, no." Ranma said while dodging a swipe from his father. "Wait a second!" Ranma yelled at his father as he leapt to a pole farther away. "You never said anything about…" Ranma leaned back out of range of another swipe before leaping away. "… curses." Ranma was now standing on a pole a few feet from the one the panda stood on.

Genma, still not realizing that he was cursed, leapt at the boy this time planning on a different kind of attack. Genma leapt at Ranma's head to keep him from leaping over him. Ranma tried to duck under the blow since he couldn't spin to the side as he had learned in Tibet or leap over it as he had been doing. However, since this was what Genma wanted, he left himself off balance when Genma hit him in the back as he passed over. Due to this Ranma took a nosedive into the pool below the pole.

"Ohhhh! Not spring of drowned girl! There is very tragic legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown in spring one thousand five hundred years ago! Now whoever fall in that spring take body of young girl! You see what I mean?" the guide said as Onna-Ranma surfaced.

"AHHHHH!" Onna-Ranma screamed as he opened his shirt to reveal breasts.

************************End Flashback****************************

Everyone sat in silence at the end of the tale.

"The legendary ground of accursed springs. Its true horror has always been shrouded in mystery. But now…" said Soun.

"Feh! Mr. Tendo, the curse is an annoyance that I would sooner be rid of, but it is nowhere near a true horror. Believe me. I have seen 'true horror'," stated Ranma. "Isn't that right old man?!" Ranma continued as he turned to his father and flexed his hands into fists.

"Quit your whining. You sound like a girl. Were you not prepared to give your life for the sake of your training?" Genma said as he attempted to splash Ranma with a bucket of water that he grabbed from nowhere.

"You dare to ask if I would be willing to give my life for my training? You dare to ask _that_?!" Ranma said as he dodged the water and advanced on his father. *Time to scare him a little, time to make him think that I'm going to attack.*

Genma took a step back and made a break for the pond. Ranma chased him out into the yard. "Come back here old man! Why don't we see how much _you're_ willing to sacrifice," Ranma yelled at his father as he chased him around the pond.

On the second lap Ranma leapt over the pond to try and cut off his father. This however, was what Genma had been waiting for. While Ranma was in mid-air Genma produced a large sign and slapped it into the pool. The resulting spray caught Ranma full on.

Onna-Ranma landed and assumed an aggressive stance. "I would, and have, risked my life for my art, but my _manhood_ is another story!"

Genma, deciding that he could claim a small victory, retreated to the safety of the house.

"Oh, what a tragedy!" said Soun as he cried tears of sympathy.

"You just went to far Mr. Saotome!" cried Kasumi as she grabbed Genma by the arm.

Nabiki crossly added, "Yeah! Even for martial arts training!" 

"What _ever_ made you do something so dangerous?!" Kasumi yelled right in Genma's face.

Onna-Ranma just looked at the girls defending him and tried to suppress a laugh. He failed. Onna-Ranma burst into laughter as he sat on the floor and slapped his leg. "Thanks for coming to my defense girls, but believe me, this was not _that_ dangerous. He has done much worse. Besides, he went to Jusenkyo because he's an idiot," Onna-Ranma replied as he came out of his laughing fit.

"Yeah! I mean, no. I mean… I had this guide book," Genma stuttered as he handed Kasumi a book.

"Something about 'training grounds,'" Nabiki said as she looked over Kasumi's shoulder.

"You can't read Chinese can you?!" Kasumi asked Genma.

"No."

Soun approached Onna-Ranma and pointed at him. "So when doused with cold water, you become a girl…" Soun pulled out a kettle. "… but hot water turns you back into a boy," he finished as he tried to pour the water onto Onna-Ranma.

"Hot water! Not _boiling_!" cried Onna-Ranma as he dodged the boiling water.

Soun stepped next to Onna-Ranma and put his arm around the cursed boy's shoulder and patted him. "No sweat. Your problem isn't so terrible after all!" 

"Huh?"

Soun turned Onna-Ranma back toward his three daughters. He pointed to Kasumi and said, "My daughter Kasumi. Nineteen." He pointed to Nabiki. "And Nabiki. Seventeen." He then finally pointed to Akane. "And Akane. Sixteen. Pick the one you want, she's your fiancée," he finished.

"FIANCEE!" Onna-Ranma screamed as Kasumi and Nabiki stepped a little behind Akane.

"Pop, what the hell is going on here?!" Onna-Ranma stated coldly as he turned towards Genma.

"Now boy, don't do anything that you'll regret," Genma pleaded.

"Then you had better start talking fast."

"Well, you see. Before you were born Soun and I made a pledge to marry our children and unite the two schools. Since you're my only child you have to pick one of his daughters to marry. This is a matter of family honor. For both families," Genma replied nervously and watched for any signs that his son might just decide to finally kill him.

"Yes. You see now. So which one do you wish to marry?" Soun said as he turned Onna-Ranma toward his daughters again.

Kasumi pushed Akane forward and said, "Oh, he wants Akane!".

"Oh, definitely!" added Nabiki as she also pushed Akane forward.

"Eh? You must be joking! Why would I be…" was Akane's reply.

"Well, you hate boys, don't you?" asked Nabiki.

"So you're in luck! He's half-girl!" answered Kasumi.

Akane wasn't going to have any of it. There was no way they were going to force her to do anything that she didn't want to do. "Me? Marry that _pervert_?! NEVER!"

Onna-Ranma tried to defend himself. "You know. I've already apologized a dozen times for the bath." 

"So, you looked at my _body_, pervert!"

"Hold it! _You_ walked in on me! And I turned around while you didn't do nothing but stare!"

Akane stuttered in the face of the undeniable logic of the statement, "Well… Umm… It's different when a girl sees a boy!"

"They're already a perfect couple!" laughed Soun with Genma.

Akane knew that she had to get the discussion away from herself. She had to focus it back on Onna-Ranma. "He's a couple by himself!" Akane yelled at their fathers.

Onna-Ranma couldn't believe how bad this had turned out. It was time to cut his losses. "Goodbye!" Onna-Ranma said as he turned from Akane and headed to the door.

Genma was panicked. If Ranma decided to leave there wasn't anything that he could do to stop him. He had to buy some time to think. "Where are you going boy?"

Onna-Ranma turned to his father and responded, "To continue my training." Then he turned to stare at Akane. "By the way _friend_, you took a pretty good look at _me_ too. Besides, it's no big deal for me to see a naked girl. I mean I've seen myself plenty of times, right?" Onna-Ranma said to Akane with a touch of hurt in his eyes.

Genma had found his ace in the hole. *Friends.* He could use the friendship between Ranma and Akane to keep the boy here. "Wait boy. Even if you have no respect for our family's honor, would you disrespect the Tendo family's honor by not upholding the pact?" That was good, but he needed a clincher. "Also, _this_ is the next stop on our training. Remember? Soun is going to help you with control, and a stable family life can help you socially."

At loath as Onna-Ranma was to admit that the dumb panda was right, he couldn't deny it this time. He couldn't just leave and dishonor the Tendos. He resigned himself to staying, besides it would be nice to actually have a home of sorts, and maybe he could patch things up with Akane. "Oh. Alright." Onna-Ranma conceded as he walked over to his pack, picked it up and asked, "Where are we staying?"

"Head on up the stairs. I'll show you to your room in a second," Kasumi volunteered as Onna-Ranma walked out of the room.

"Nabiki. Could you bring the spare bed rolls from the closet?" Kasumi asked.

"Akane. Why don't you go finish your bath?" Kasumi told the younger girl.

"Okay."

*****************************************************************

Up in the guest room Onna-Ranma was unpacking his bag as Kasumi sat off to the side, when Nabiki came in.

"Here are your bed rolls, Ranma."

"Thanks, Nabiki." Onna-Ranma took the bedding from Nabiki and asked, "By the way, what is up with your sister?"

"Don't think too badly of Akane. She's a very sweet girl, but she has a problem with her temper and the boys at school don't help," Kasumi answered.

"Oh, good Kasumi, that explains a lot," Nabiki dryly added.

*Problems with boys at school?* thought Onna-Ranma. "Thanks. I think that I can handle it from here," he told the girls.

"Okay."

*****************************************************************

Onna-Ranma was walking down the stairs to take another bath as he was thinking about Akane asking if he wanted to be friends.

* 'Friends' she says. That would have been nice, but so much for being friends when she found out I'm a boy,* Onna-Ranma thought as he entered the dressing room and stripped.

Just as Onna-Ranma was getting ready to go into the bathroom the door slid open and a naked Akane was standing there.

Onna-Ranma was shocked that he was in this situation again. He quickly closed his eyes and began to backpedal. He knew that this was bad and had to try something to relieve some of the tension. "Sorry Akane, but you know we really have to quit meeting like this," he tried jokingly. It didn't work as well as he had hoped.

"Why you… you… you…" Akane fumed as she raised her hand to strike the offending boy.

Onna-Ranma felt the blow coming a mile away and decided that the best course of action would be to let Akane feel that she had enacted some form of justice. After all _he_ walked in on her this time. Akane hit Onna-Ranma with enough force to make him take a step back to absorb some of the force. *If she wasn't convinced that I was a pervert before, she will be now. I would've liked to have at least one friend again,*__Onna-Ranma thought as he turned to leave. "I'm sorry, Akane. I'd have liked to been your friend," he said with extreme sadness as he walked over to his towel and clothes.

Akane was shocked out of her extreme anger when she noticed the same scars on Onna-Ranma's form as were on his male form. She winced in sympathetic pain and wondered what could've caused them. Then she thought about what he had said. *Why does she… he sounds so sad. He's probably just trying to make me let my guard down. _But_, he never did look down this time. His eyes never left mine until they closed.* 

Onna-Ranma had made it over to his clothes and towel. He picked up the towel and wrapped it around himself.

Akane continued her internal debate. *Is he really a pervert if he doesn't try to look? _But_, he's walked in on me twice now. No, he was right about the last time. _I_ walked in on him. But… but, he looked at me while I was naked.*

Onna-Ranma had picked up his clothes and was slowly walking towards the door.

*_But_, I also looked at him, and he was the one to turn away, not me. He was the one to close his eyes, _not_ me. I'm _not_ a pervert and if he avoids looking more than I do, can I really call him a pervert?* Akane mentally argued with herself as Onna-Ranma opened the door.

"Goodbye, Akane. I won't bother you ever again."

*He sounds like he just lost everything in the world. He sounds like I did when… Mom _died_.* Akane had made her decision. She had offered Ranma her friendship and then had done nothing but treat him like dirt since she had walked in on him earlier.  *It's time that I started acting like a friend. I think he could use one.*

"Ranma, wait," Akane said softly, before the boy could completely leave.

"What?" Onna-Ranma asked as he still looked away.

"Wait just a second," Akane replied as she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself.

Onna-Ranma was wondering what Akane was wanting, but decided to allow the girl to say her piece.

Akane folded her towel so that it would stay shut and asked, "Can I trust you not to try anything inappropriate?"

"Huh?! Well… yeah," Onna-Ranma replied as confusion started to set in.

"Then can we talk?"

"I guess, but don't you think you should get _dressed_ first?"

"I have a towel on. The same as you."

"Oh, well what did you want to talk about?" Onna-Ranma asked as he stepped back into the changing room and closed the door.

"I wanted to apologize for the way that I've been acting. I haven't met a boy in a long time that didn't try and ogle, fondle, or take advantage of me. I assumed that you were the same, but I'm starting to think that you might not be," Akane shyly admitted.

Ranma leapt at the opportunity to salvage something good out of all this. He just had to think of the right thing to say. *I want to keep her as a friend. I want to make her feel good about herself and shift some of the blame to myself, he decided. That should make her feel less responsible and more at ease.* "Apology accepted, but only if you accept mine. Besides, it isn't all your fault. If I'd walked in on a strange man in my bath I'd think he was a pervert too," Onna-Ranma said with a small laugh.

Akane was shocked. Was this the same loudmouth jerk from earlier? "Thank you for forgiving me, Ranma, and I forgive you," Akane said quietly. "Can we start over again? I'd still like to be your friend," she added after a pause.

Now Onna-Ranma was stunned. He had gotten more than he had ever dreamed of, Akane still wanted to be friends. "I'd like to have you as a friend," he replied. It had been so long since he had a friend. Now he just had to keep this one. *Okay, what else did Grandmother tell me about conversation? Review her last big statement and comment on another part of it.* He sobered as he digested the ramifications of the last part of what Akane said earlier. "I'm sorry that you are having so much trouble with other boys.  A cute girl like you is bound to have some trouble fighting off the guys, but I think that some have went too far."

*He called me cute,* Akane thought as she blushed. "Thank you for the compliment, Ranma. Unfortunately, your last statement is more true than I care for," Akane replied as she adjusted her towel to make sure it still covered herself.

"Thank you for still wanting to be friends. I don't think you know how much that means to me," Onna-Ranma said as he turned away from Akane while she adjusted the towel.

"You're welcome, and I'm sorry for all of the misunderstandings," Akane said as she stepped to the door and opened it. "_But_, if you walk in on me _again_. I'll beat you senseless." Akane said with authority as she stepped through the door and closed it.

"Wow! That was great. Grandmother was right. If I approach a conversation with a proper strategy it can make all the difference," Onna-Ranma whispered as he went into the bathroom to take his bath.

***************************************************************** 


	3. A Rough Day at School

**Softer Side**

Version 3-4.9.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 3: A Rough Day at School**

Ranma was standing in a dojo. Across from him stood two teenagers who were slightly older than him. He knew them, and he knew how this was going to end, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop it.

"How dare you degrade our abilities, you stinking punk," said the taller of the two teens.

"Yeah, what makes you think that you're so good?" asked the other of the teenagers.

Ranma replied cockily, "I just am. In fact both of you put together couldn't beat me on your best day." 

"That does it! Kiyahh!" the taller one yelled as he leapt into a flying kick at Ranma's head.

"I don't want to fight you!" Ranma yelled back as he ducked the kick and brought his hands up to defend himself.

The shorter teen laughed, "You mean you're afraid of getting beat don't you?"

"No, I'm afraid of hurting _you_!" Ranma yelled back. He didn't understand why they wouldn't listen? He was trying to help them.

"Ahhh!" screamed the shorter of the teens as he jabbed at Ranma with a left.

"Stop this!" Ranma tried one last time as he ducked under the blow. The only response that he received was an attempted kick in the back by the taller boy. Ranma went rolling forward to avoid the blow as the two boys laughed.

"Why don't you just admit that we're better?!" sneered the taller one.

"Or are we going to have to kick your ass, coward?" laughed the shorter one haughtily.

Ranma was enraged. How dare they call him a coward! Had they spent two years in hell? Had they been forced to endure a pit of starving cats? They had no right to call him a coward.  "Fine! You want a fight?! You've got a _fight_!" Ranma yelled as he drew up his battle aura. 

For Ranma the world seemed to slow down as his consciousness was repressed by the training. He could sense two battle auras before him. They were directed towards him. That meant that they were enemies. Enemies were to be eliminated as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Without another thought or another word Ranma blurred towards the laughing shorter teen. Neither teen saw him move. Neither teen had time to react. Neither teen would live long enough to not be a teen. 

Ranma hit the shorter teen in the shoulder and felt the arm dislocate and the collar bone snap along with a few ribs. As the shorter teen flew back Ranma snapped his left leg around in an axe kick. He drove his heel into the shorter boy's chest and drove him into the ground as he felt ribs break and shatter. The shorter boy slammed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater and bounced back up as he coughed blood with his chest caved in.

The taller boy was terrified of what he just saw. The punk that they were beating so easily before just killed his friend in less time then it took for him to step back. He was terrified but was also determined to avenge his friend. He lashed out at Ranma with all of his speed and strength before Ranma had even turned to face him. The taller boy was trying to snap his opponent's spine. It was the last thing he would ever try.

Ranma felt the taller boy behind him trying for a killing blow. He knew that he had killed the shorter boy and in the recesses of his mind his conscious was disgusted, but the training had taken over. With little effort Ranma spun to his right and grabbed his attacker's fist with his left hand. The force of Ranma's grip crushed all of the bones in the unfortunate boy's hand. As the taller teen started to scream Ranma backhanded the boy across the face with his right. The force of the blow was enough to shatter the taller boy's jaw and snap his neck. The taller boy crumpled into a heap at Ranma's feet.

Ranma's enhanced senses told him that there were no other battle auras close and none of the others were focused towards him. This meant that there were no more enemies to eliminate. With no more foes to fight his battle aura faded and his training regressed. Ranma's conscious mind took control again and he screamed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ranma sat up in his bedroll in the Tendo's guestroom.

"Huh… It was only a dream. Huh… It didn't happen again. Huh… I can't ever let that happen again," Ranma said through his panting.

Genma rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep; weeping at how much pain he had caused his son. He now realized that he was a fool to think that being the strongest fighter was that important. Sometimes the price was just too high.

*****************************************************************

That morning in the Tendo family room Ranma and Genma were sitting facing each other.

"School?" Ranma asked his father.

"Well, we're going to be staying for a while," answered Genma.

"It's the same school that Akane and I go to," replied Nabiki as she walked by the room.

Akane ran toward her sister and hollered, "Nabiki, wait! I'll go to school with you."

"What are you talking about? Ranma is your fiancée, remember? You should walk him to school," answered Nabiki as she left.

"Yeah, I guess that you're right," Akane said as she turned to Ranma. "Hurry up Ranma, I don't want to be late."

*****************************************************************

Akane walked down the street towards school while Ranma walked on the fence next to her.

"Ranma, what do you think of the engagement?"

Ranma once again found himself in a delicate situation. How did he respond to that question? He didn't really mind the engagement, but he didn't want to get married right now. However, he had to be careful that Akane didn't think that it was because of her. So he decided to down play marriage while complimenting her. "The engagement's okay, I guess, but I'm not ready to get married yet. I still have a lot of training to do. But, if I'm going to be engaged, I'm glad it's to a cute girl like you."

Akane was shocked. That wasn't at all what she was expecting. "Really?!"

"Well yeah. I mean it also helps that we're friends. If I have to be engaged to someone it's nice being engaged to a friend," Ranma said as he leapt off of the fence and started walking next Akane.

*Man, he isn't at all like the other boys. He's actually kind of nice,* thought Akane. She smiled at the young man beside her and replied, "Yeah, I guess it is." Now she had to head off trouble at school. She just hoped that he wasn't offended by what she was about to say. "Um, Ranma."

"Yeah?"

"When we get to school would you mind not telling people that we're engaged? It would cause a lot of problems for both of us," Akane asked meekly.

"That's fine. I'll let you decide when and if you're ready to tell anyone."

Akane heard a splash from beside her and looked to see a wet, female Onna-Ranma standing in front of a little old lady that was watering her sidewalk. Onna-Ranma turned back toward the house and growled,  "Well, this sucks."

"Where are you going?"

Ranma turned back toward Akane. "Back to the house to get some hot water. I really don't want to start school as a girl." 

Akane thought about this for a second. "But if we just pour hot water on you, you'll turn back right?"

"Yeah," Ranma answered.

*****************************************************************

Akane led Ranma down the street.

"How come you didn't dodge the water, Ranma?"

"I didn't notice it. I wasn't looking over there and the lady wasn't threatening me, so she didn't set off my danger sense."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense," Akane replied as they came to a doctor's office. "Wait here. I'll go get some water," she said as she ran around the corner.

*Hooo boy. What a way to start the…* Onna-Ranma felt a tingle in the back of his mind. It was the feeling that he got when someone was focusing a battle aura on him. This wasn't a major cause of concern however, what was a major concern was that it was like the person was masking their aura. He couldn't tell what or where it was coming from. Onna-Ranma expanded his senses to their maximum and searched for the source. 

While he was searching for the source his enhanced senses picked up an increase in the air pressure approaching his left shoulder and his instincts kicked into overdrive. Reacting as quick as thought Onna-Ranma ducked his left shoulder as he threw his head towards his right shoulder, lifted his right leg into the air as he moved his entire body away from the approaching object, and twisted on his left foot to face his attacker.

Tofu was amazed at the speed, agility, and flexibility displayed by the young lady that he was going to scare. Using his training to mask his presence he got right behind her and was ready to put Betty's hand on her shoulder when she suddenly dodged the hand and turned to face him.

"Who are you?!" Onna-Ranma asked in a threatening tone.

"Oh pardon me. Nothing to worry about, dear," said Tofu as he smiled.

Akane walked around the corner. "Ranma here's the hot… " She stopped when she say that Onna-Ranma was facing off against Dr. Tofu.

"Well, Akane," said Tofu as he saw the young girl.

"Oh! Doctor! Um… Good morning," Akane stammered as she bowed to Tofu.

Ranma seeing that the person wasn't a threat quickly bowed with Akane.

"Good morning to you," replied Tofu as he returned the bow.

Akane handed the kettle to Onna-Ranma when they both stood from the bow. He then retreated around the corner and wondered why Akane was blushing.

Tofu turned to Akane and asked, "You haven't been by lately. No new injuries?"

"No, sir. I mean… I haven't been doing anything that would injure me."

Ranma overheard this and was starting to wonder.

*****************************************************************

"Who was that guy?" Ranma asked as he and Akane ran down the street to school.

"Dr. Tofu, the chiropractor," answered Akane.

"Martial arts master, too, isn't he?"

"Huh? How could you tell?"

"Sneaking up on me that way, he virtually erased almost all sense of his presence."

"True he's very good. But he doesn't look like he'd be, does he? Ever since I was little he's taken care of my injuries."

Ranma realized that it was the perfect time for a little friendly teasing. "So isn't he a _man_?"

Akane asked in response, "Yes, so?" She was confused by her fiancé's question.

"I thought that you said you _hate_ men!" Ranma continued to tease her.

Akane was starting to get upset with Ranma when she looked at him and noticed that he was smiling at her. She understood at that moment that he was teasing her. She smiled a little at the thought, but then reality intruded once again. *Damn, the gates. Okay. Ignore Ranma right now. You need to focus,* Akane thought as she and Ranma ran toward the school. Akane screamed her reply as she neared the gates of the school and a crowd of boys came running towards her. "That's right! I… HATE… MEN!" She leapt into the crowd of boys with a battle cry of, "Out of my way I'm late!"

Akane tore through the boys like they were so much confetti. She lashed out with her right leg to tag a boxer in the face as she nailed another boy in the face with her book bag, and punched another in the solar plexus with her left. 

"I won't let another guy beat you!" cried a field hockey player before Akane silenced him with a kick to the head. "I'll do it myself!" yelled a kendoist as he attacked, only to have his shinai snapped by a chop from Akane and then driven to his knees as she hit him in a nerve cluster at the small of his back. The rest fell quickly to the onslaught known as Akane. 

Meanwhile, Ranma leapt to the top of the wall and watched. *So this was what she meant when she said that 'she had to fight off the boys.'* Ranma was amazed at the level of skill that Akane was exhibiting. She was defeating the boys without causing any more damage than necessary.

Nabiki yelled from an upper story window to get Ranma's attention. "Oh! Ranma!" When she noticed that she had got it Nabiki yelled at him again. "Ranma! Get in here, now!"

"But… But…" Ranma stammered as he pointed to Akane.

"Don't worry about Akane!"

When Ranma looked back down towards his fiancée the fight was over and Akane was standing victorious in the middle of all the unconscious and moaning boys. She was breathing hard from all of the exertion as she pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "For Pete's sake. Every morning. What a _drag_!" Akane said between deep breaths.

"Truly such a boorish lot," said a tall kendoist, holding a bokken and a rose, who stood off to the side. The kendoist sniffed the rose and continued, "Evidently each of them intends to ask you out, Akane. On the dawn that they finally defeat you." 

"Oh Upperclassman. Good morning," Akane sighed.

"And now Tendo Akane might you fight with me?" the upperclassman said as he threw the rose to Akane.

Ranma leapt down next to Akane and jokingly said, "Man. You're popular aren't you?"

"Stay out of the way. I don't want you to get hurt," Akane replied.

"What's going on?" Ranma asked.

"You'll see."

"You there!" the kendoist barked at Ranma as he pointed his bokken towards him.

"What?" asked Ranma as the sky started to darken and thunder rumbled.

"You are being quite familiar with Akane."

Ranma had decided that the boy in front of him was probably one of the problems that Akane was referring to. Now he had to decide how to handle the situation_. _*Remember Grandmother's motto: 'If you must resort to violence then you have already lost.'* So Ranma replied, "Well, we _are_ friends."

"Who are you, boor, to claim to be friends with Akane? Ah, but it is the custom to give one's own name first. Fine, then! Mine I shall give!" bellowed the kendoist.

Ranma was starting to think that the kendoist was a little unstable. "Huh? Well, if you want…" 

"My name is Upperclassman Kuno. Third Year. Group E. Captain of the Kendo club. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me… the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Kuno exclaimed as lightning flashed in the background.

While Ranma doubted the kendoist mental stability earlier, he now knew that the guy was definitely certifiable. *Now how do I handle him so as not to get into a fight? Well I guess the truth is probably best, except the engagement,* thought Ranma. He decided to try being nice. "Nice to meet you Upperclassman Kuno," Ranma said with a bow. As he stood from the bow he continued, "My name is Saotome Ranma. Second Year. I'm not sure what group yet. Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts. I'm staying at the Tendo practice hall…"

"What?! Under the same roof as _Akane_?! I'll not allow it," Kuno interrupted as he charged Ranma and swung at him with his bokken.

Ranma jumped over Kuno's swing and landed a few meters away with his arms crossed in an 'X' in front of him. *So much for being nice.* "I have no desire to fight you Kuno, and will not, for as stupid a reason as this. Akane can do whatever she wants, with whoever she wants. Us fighting will not change that and thus this fight is useless," Ranma declared to the stunned kendoist.

Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled across the sky as Kuno and Ranma faced off in front of Furinkan High. All of the students were crammed to the windows to see.

"So you scoundrel. Hounding Akane, eh? I Upperclassman Kuno, shall bring you to justice!" Kuno stated as he assumed an attack pose towards Ranma.

Ranma was finding it hard to keep his cool. "Did you listen to anything I said?! I'm not hounding anybody!" 

"He's only staying with us, Kuno!" Akane added, trying to defuse the situation.

Kuno rushed Ranma with his bokken raised to strike and yelled, "Silence fool!!" 

Ranma felt out Kuno's battle aura and expanded his senses. Time slowed as Kuno neared him. He felt the air pressure change, as Kuno's strike neared. Then just as Kuno's strike was about to connect, Ranma leapt to his left and rebounded off of a tree. 

Kuno quickly changed his momentum and tried to follow his opponent. Ranma was now standing behind him. "Blast!" cried Kuno as he turned.

Ranma tried once again to placate the insane teenager. "This is useless Kuno. I'll not fight you and you haven't touched me. Let's call it a draw."

"Never, I must put an end to your hounding of Akane," Kuno cried as he rushed Ranma again.

"For the last time. I'm not hounding anybody," Ranma yelled back as he dodged Kuno's next blow and leapt away.

Kuno was amazed. This newcomer was good. He had yet to even come close to hitting the elusive boy. But, he would not be dissuaded from his righteous duty. Kuno continued to swipe at Ranma numerous times and Ranma leaned out of the way of all of them. When Kuno tried to strike at the waist where it was harder to dodge, Ranma leapt straight up and tucked into an easily defensible position, just as it started to rain.

Onna-Ranma felt his father's presence approaching quickly from the gates. He looked back to see the panda running towards them carrying a kettle and waving a sign.

Genma-panda's sign read, 'Follow me boy.' Genma shoved Kuno off to the side as Onna-Ranma landed behind Genma and took off after him.

"Kuno was knocked out by a panda!" said a student in one of the windows. Another responded, "Man, that panda's _good_!" Then a girl asked, "Does that boy look smaller?"

*****************************************************************

Genma and Onna-Ranma stood in the P.E. equipment room.

"Dang it. Why did that idiot have to fight? If it hadn't of rained it probably would have taken me an hour or so to wear him down," said Onna-Ranma.

Akane crawled in a window. "So _that_ was what you were doing. Why didn't you attack him?" 

"I can't," replied Onna-Ranma as Genma poured hot water over his head.

"Thanks, Pop."

"What?! Why?" asked a confused Akane.

Ranma grabbed Akane's hand and dragged her out of the room. "I'll explain it later. We need to get going now, or we'll be late for class." 

"Okay," Akane whispered as she blushed at the contact.

*****************************************************************

Ranma was standing in front of the class.

"Well, it does seem to be true that you were in China until recently. But, that doesn't change the fact that both you and Tendo Akane were late. Stand in the hall," scolded the teacher.

Akane was upset that she got in trouble and upset that Ranma didn't think she could handle her own fights. So she snapped at Ranma. "This is your fault, if you had just let me handle Kuno. I would have finished in time."

Ranma was at first confused at Akane's anger, but then he stopped and analyzed what had happened this morning. He had made her tardy to class. He had interfered in her fight. While, Kuno _had_ attacked him, she had told him to stay back and he didn't. He needed to apologize. "I'm sorry for making you tardy, Akane. I didn't want to fight him in the first place and will try not to interfere again," he said trying to appease his upset fiancée.

Akane's irritation quickly faded when Ranma apologized. She knew that he didn't do anything wrong. She knew that Kuno attacked him. She berated herself for always jumping to conclusions with Ranma. "That's alright Ranma. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just upset about all of that mess before school," sighed Akane.

"What was that all about anyway? I mean, it was like some stupid training idea that my pop would think up, not yours. Couldn't your father think of some better way to train you in group combat, than telling those boys that they had to defeat you to date you?" Ranma said in exasperation at the stupidity of fathers and their training ideas.

"It wasn't daddy, Ranma. It was Kuno. He told them 'if you wish to take Akane out… defeat her! I will permit no other _terms_!'"

"What an idiot! Why does anyone listen to him?"

"I don't know. Probably because he's the strongest fighter in the school, besides me," answered Akane. Akane then turned to Ranma and smiled. "By the way, Ranma. Thank you for not treating me like a prize or a piece of property."

Ranma's heart skipped a beat. *Man, I'd do anything to see that smile some more,* he thought. "Hey, what're friends for, ya tomboy," 

Akane looked at Ranma menacingly and asked, "Tomboy?!" 

Ranma paused for a moment and then answered. "Well yeah, you think I'd be engaged to some sissy girl? I like tomboys. Especially cute ones." Ranma smiled back at Akane. "So, how often does this happen?"

"Every morning."

"You mean you fight with Kuno _every_ morning?!"

"And for some reason I always win!"

"Well, sometimes when a guy fights a girl he lets up a lot." 

"Don't underestimate me. Try me for real sometime."

"No! I mean… I'm sorry if I insulted you, but I won't fight you."

"Why, because I'm a _girl_?! What if _you're_ a girl?!"

"W… wait, that isn't what I mea…" Ranma never finished his sentence as his danger sense kicked in and he leapt over an incoming wave of water.

"Never, Saotome Ranma!" Kuno cried as he stood in the hall holding an empty bucket.

"What is it this time Upperclassman Kuno?" asked Ranma in exasperation of having to deal with the lunatic.

"I shall _never_ accept your engagement to Akane!"

The windows in the classroom to the hall slammed open as the entire class was looking out of the windows. "What?! Engagement?!" said a boy in the class. A girl yelled, "How could you Akane! And you said you _despise_ men!"

Akane turned to Kuno in anger and asked, "Where did you find out?!"

Ranma was upset and saddened over the current situation. Akane had wanted to keep the engagement a secret and now it was out. He needed to try and minimize the trouble for her. Ranma's introspection was interrupted when he sensed another attack coming from Kuno. He leapt to avoid a swing from Kuno that cut through his bucket.

"Stand your ground!" Kuno yelled as the pig-tailed martial artist leapt away from the water from the now cut buckets.

Ranma needed to think. How was he going to handle this idiot? He had to think of something that wouldn't offend Akane or cause her more trouble. Then inspiration struck him.  Ranma screamed as he held out his hands to Kuno, "STOP!" 

This surprised Kuno enough that he actually stopped.

"Kuno, why are you attacking me?" Ranma questioned.

"Because, I shall never accept your engagement to Tendo Akane."

"Well, beating me wouldn't change anything. The only way to void the engagement is for our father's to decide to make it void."

"Then all I must do is persuade Akane's father to choose my glorious self over a cur like you? HAHAHA. A simple task for one such as myself," laughed Kuno maniacally.

Ranma was pleased that his plan had worked so well. *Let Mr. Tendo deal with the fool. He should've taken care of this before now anyway,* Ranma thought angrily.*Thank you, Grandmother. I would have never thought to do that before,* he continued.

"Thanks a _lot_ Ranma!" Akane said as she smacked him on the back of the head.

"What?! I didn't want to fight him."

"I know, but you _didn't_ have to encourage him to chase _me_."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think of that," Ranma replied nervously as he played with his ponytail. "I promise I'll take care of it. Just give me some time to think."

"Okay," Akane relented with a sigh.

*****************************************************************


	4. Remembrance in Nightmares

**Softer Side**

Version 3-4.9.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 4: Remembrance in Nightmares**

Ranma stood on a wind swept plain. It was mostly rock and sand with clumps of blood red grass scattered about. He knew where he was; he just didn't know how he got back there. He hated this place. The Plains of Sacirri was where he first entered the nightmare realm. It was where he had nearly died. It was where Toki had died. It was a place that he would sooner forget.

Ranma was wondering what was happening when he felt a rumble below his feet and looked up. On the horizon he saw a sight that made his blood run cold. A group of the horde was rushing toward him. He then heard an indistinct voice behind him. He turned to his right and saw his old Sensei. A creature that stood nearly six feet tall with blue scaly skin and solid black eyes the color of the darkest night. He turned to his left and saw Toki, a younger, smaller version of his sensei but with emerald scales.

He knew that he was dreaming and shuddered, for he knew there was nothing that he could do to stop what was going to happen. It was the worst day of his life. It was the day that Toki died. It was the day that he awakened, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't forget or change any of it. He would be forced to relive the experience in his body as the ignorant and arrogant youth that he was made the same mistakes over and over and over again.

"Get ready boys. They're almost upon us," said his Sensei.

"Yes, sensei," replied Ranma.

"I'm ready master," said Toki.

Ranma assumed his old stance. One that was loose and easily adaptable for either attack or defense and smiled in expectation of the coming fight. He looked over and Toki had taken his aggressive stance as his black eyes shone in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

Then the horde was upon them. There were thirteen of them, each with blood red eyes and four sharp claws on each hand. Their feet were three-taloned mockeries of a bird's foot. Their skin was thick and leathery and ranged in color from gray to deep black.

Ranma leapt into action. He kicked a gray horde that was directly in front of him in the gut. His kick was strong and true. His strength and speed had increased drastically since he had come here. The gray horde flew back from the kick and tripped up a second blue-black horde, but Ranma had no time to celebrate as a slate horde attacked him from his left. He blocked the blow and received a cut on his arm for it. The cut was a small price to pay though for the benefit of the block. The slate horde had not expected him to block and thus allowed the boy into its defenses. Ranma made the slate horde pay for its mistake. He used the speed training that Sensei had put him through to hit the slate horde 416 times on every available pressure point and finished with a ki blast into its face. The blast was enough to shatter the slate horde's head like a melon. As soon as he had killed the slate horde he had to leap and twist out of the way of the gray horde's swipe. The gray horde was soon backed up by the blue-black horde that he had tripped earlier. Claws were flying through the air and Ranma was dodging them. He would strike or kick a horde as opportunities presented themselves, but they were too good to repeat the mistake of their now dead comrade.

Ranma spared a second to look over at Toki. He was facing four of the horde and seemed to be holding his own. This was all of the time that Ranma had to spare for his friend's welfare however, as the remaining two on him were pressing their attack. He leapt over a swing from the blue-black horde that placed him right above the gray horde. Ranma used this opportunity to throw a ki blast into the gray horde. It would have been a lethal blow, but the gray horde managed to twist enough so that it only took off his right arm at the shoulder instead of removing its head.

When Ranma landed he had to quickly roll under a kick from the blue-black horde. He tucked into the roll and spun under the legs of the gray horde whose arm he had just blasted off. This brought Ranma into a position directly behind the gray horde and he used the position to his advantage. Ranma punched out at the base of the gray horde's spine and felt bones break. This effectively denied the gray horde the use of its legs and allowed Ranma to leap back and survey the field of battle for a second. Sensei had killed five horde and was fighting the leader now. Toki had killed three of his horde and was fighting the last. Toki had a nasty looking cut across his chest but it didn't seem to be affecting him much.

With a quick glance Ranma sized up his situation. One horde dead, one incapacitated, and one still actively trying to kill him. The blue-black horde leapt over his fallen comrade in an attempt to kick the boy in the head. Ranma used the airborne status of his opponent to his advantage. He leapt into the air to meet the blue-black horde and traded blows with it. Each block cut Ranma's arm but he was giving more than he was receiving. With one blow Ranma opened a gap in the horde's defenses and he kicked through the gap and felt a number of the blue-black horde's ribs snap as it was slammed backward and into the ground. Ranma landed and was preparing to ki blast the downed blue-black horde when he felt a searing pain shoot across his back. The jolt of the blow caused Ranma to lift his hands slightly as he let loose the ki blast before he kicked into the attacker behind him and fell to the ground.

Ranma watched in horror and pain as his ki blast slammed into an unprepared Toki's back. The ki blast had lost most of its power in the second before its release, due to the pain breaking Ranma's concentration, but it was enough to make Toki stumble. That stumble opened a hole in his defenses and the remaining horde that he fought took advantage of it. Ranma watched in shock as the horde drove its talons through Toki's chest and ripped his heart out. It then followed up with a kick to the head that had enough strength that it ripped Toki's head off of his shoulders and launched it towards Ranma.

Toki's head landed with a bounce and rolled to a stop directly in front of Ranma. Ranma stared directly into Toki's now lifeless eyes and screamed. Then he tried to stand. He saw through a haze that Sensei had the leader on the defensive as the blue-black horde ganged up on him. He fumbled and fell back to the ground when the muscles in his back that had been torn and mutilated complained or simply failed to respond because of the damage to his spine. The gray horde and Toki's killer were laughing at the boy's antics. The gray horde was limping towards him. The talons of his left hand were coated in blood from Ranma's back. 

They thought that they had won. They were laughing at him. He had killed Toki with his incompetence. He had held back and Toki had paid the price. Ranma decided then that he would no longer hold back. He would avenge Toki and that would only happen if he opened himself up to the power of this realm. He did as Sensei had instructed him. He reached what ki he had left out to the realm. He stroked its tainted ki and felt repulsed. But this time he would not back down. This time he shoved his ki into the ki of the realm and pulled it into his body. The ki didn't want to come but he forced it. This opened a gateway that could never be closed. It was his awakening. It was the first step in the last part of his training.

The power rush was instantaneous. He channeled the raw energy into his back and quickly closed the deep wounds. He leapt at his enemies with a speed and strength that he didn't realize he had. He fell upon the gray horde and grabbed the talons swung at him. He then planted his foot in the horde's chest and ripped the remaining arm off of the horde. Turning, he slammed the gray horde's talons into the head of the rushing horde that had killed Toki. Not being content to stop there he grabbed the killer by his neck and hauled it down to his level. He then looked into the horde's eyes and punched into its chest and ripped out its black heart. He sneered at the dying beast and threw it across the battlefield. With Toki's killer dead he was left with only the gray horde to deal with. The gray horde was attempting to stand again. Ranma wouldn't let it. He channeled the raw ki of the realm into a ball the size of a basketball and launched it at the gray horde. The moment the ball contacted the horde it exploded into a brilliant red explosion and vaporized the horde and a large portion of the terrain.

The effect was astounding and too much for the already weakened boy. His vision grayed out as he stumbled forward in time to see Sensei kill the last of the horde.

*****************************************************************

Ranma woke from his sleep in a sweat. 

He hated that dream, but at least he didn't wake from it screaming. *Toki, one year was too short to know you. Oh, how I wish that you had lived. How I wish I had taken this seriously,* thought Ranma.

"Toki. I'm still working on controlling the training," Ranma said silently to the air. He continued as he lay back down to go to sleep, "But, I promise you I'll do it, and until that time I'll try to never fight with a person not able to defend themselves. There has been too much death already." 

*****************************************************************


	5. Getting to Know You

**Softer Side**

Version 3-4.9.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 5: Getting to Know You**

It was morning at the Tendo dojo. Outside there were the sounds of battle, "HAI-YAAAAAA!" There were the sounds of violence, "OOF! SMACK!" There was the sound of great martial artists sparring.

Genma and Ranma were sparring in the backyard. Genma was wearing a thick chest and back protector with leg and arm guards, while Ranma was wearing padded gloves and footpads.

"KI-YAAAAA!" Genma screamed as he leapt across the yard at Ranma.

Ranma quietly leapt to meet his father in the air.

Genma tried kicking his son in the side, but Ranma blocked the kick and spun in the air while directing Genma into the pond with a tap of his foot to the older man's chest.

"UGGH!" Cried Genma as he fell into the koi pond below.

"Mr. Saotome! Ranma! Breakfast!" Kasumi hollered out the door for the two to come eat.

"Well, Pop, it looks like that's it for this morning." Ranma said as he turned from Genma.

Ranma sensed the attack and dodged to his right as Genma threw a bucketful of water at his son. This however, made Ranma move directly into the water from the second bucketful of water.

"What'd you do that for?" Onna-Ranma cried as he turned to the panda, which was now holding a sign and had two empty buckets at his feet. 'That hurt. Even through the padding,'__the sign read. Genma flipped it over and it read_, _'Besides, a martial artist should always be ready for an attack.'

*****************************************************************

Soun came walking down the hall towards the family room brushing his teeth.

"So Ranma, morning workout, huh?" he asked seeing Onna-Ranma sitting on the porch. "Atta boy! Atta…" Soun said before shoving his toothbrush deep into his mouth when he realized that Onna-Ranma was quite female and quite topless.

"Just trying to keep in shape." Onna-Ranma said with a smile as he flapped his shirt to finish drying it.

"You are unbelievable," Akane said in amazement as she walked up to Onna-Ranma with a kettle. "Have you _no_ feminine modesty?" she said in exasperation as she poured the hot water over Onna-Ranma's head.

Ranma put his shirt back on and walked over to the table.

"Thanks for the water, but… Akane, why should I have feminine modesty? I mean, I'm a _guy_," Ranma asked his fiancée as he started to eat.

"Ranma, your not _always_ a guy. And when you aren't a guy you can't go walking around with no _shirt_ on," Akane said as she joined him at the table.

"Yeah, I guess," Ranma replied.

"By the way, Akane, on your way home from school could you stop by Dr. Tofu's office?" Kasumi asked as she scooped herself some rice. She continued as she held up a book on human pressure points, "I borrowed this book from him and I'd like to return it." 

"Could you… umm… do it yourself, Kasumi? Today's just… uhh… not too good for me," Akane stammered out.

"Really? Well I guess I'll have to," replied Kasumi.

Ranma was intrigued by his fiancée's behavior. He decided to try and find out what that was about on the way to school.

Everyone finished breakfast in silence and Ranma and Akane left for school shortly after Nabiki did.

*****************************************************************

Akane and Ranma were walking down the street towards the school. Ranma as usual was walking on the fence, while Akane was walking on the street. After they got a little ways from the house Ranma extended his senses and found that his father had not followed them today. That pleased Ranma because it gave him a chance to talk to Akane without the idiot listening in. "Hey, Akane," Ranma said as he leapt down next to her.

"Yeah?" Akane replied with a small smile.

"What you got going on this afternoon?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Well you told Kasumi that you had something going on. I was just wondering if you wanted me to wait for you."

Akane lost her smile as replied sadly, "Oh, that. Yeah, I guess that you can."

Ranma noticed Akane's sudden change in emotion and decided to try and cheer the girl up. "Akane," Ranma said with a smile.

"Yeah, Ranma," Akane said in that still sad voice.

"You wanta practice some?"

"Huh?" Akane asked in confusion.

"I was asking if you wanted to practice your balance? It'd help with the telegraphing that I was telling you about the other day."

Akane couldn't believe what she had heard. "You mean that you want to help me train?!" 

"Well, sure. I mean you've got a lot of potential and besides I thought that you liked martial arts and… well… it would give us something to do together," Ranma said with a slight blush.

Akane didn't notice the blush in her excitement at the prospect of finding someone who would help her get better. Akane's face broke out in a gorgeous smile. "I'd love that, Ranma. Thank you." 

Ranma leapt back up onto the fence. "Well then, jump on up," he said as he held out his hand.

"You mean, walk on the _fence_?!"

"Sure! It's good practice."

"But what if I fall?" Akane asked as she nervously eyed the canal on the other side of the fence.

Ranma smirked while still holding out his hand. "Don't worry. I won't let you fall." 

"Well, _okay_!" Akane said with confidence as she leapt up onto the fence. She nearly lost her balance as soon as she landed on the fence, but Ranma reached out and steadied her.

"There. You see this isn't so bad, but it's easier if you're moving. So lets get moving." Ranma said as he pulled his hand back from Akane.

Akane started walking down the fence. She couldn't believe how nice Ranma was sometimes. He was nothing like the boys at school. When the thought of school entered her mind she sped up a little, since she didn't want to be tardy again.

They walked on the fence for quite a few blocks. Akane was really starting to get the hang of it. She would still lose her balance every once in a while, but Ranma would always steady her before she fell. 

When they were just a few blocks past the turn off for Dr. Tofu's, Ranma saw a goldfish salesman on a bike approaching. "Well, I think it's time to get down," Ranma said.

Akane started to wobble a little. "Nah. I'm getting the hang of it."

Ranma reached out to steady Akane again and asked, "Um… Akane? What do you have on under your dress?" 

"WHAT!" Akane yelled as she felt him touch her shoulder. She turned quickly and slapped Ranma, but after she slapped him her left foot slipped off of the fence and her right caught on the top rail. Akane started to fall head first toward the concrete knew that it was going to hurt. *That _pervert_!* Akane thought as she closed her eyes, brought up her arms, and prepared for the impact with the concrete… but it never came. Only a loud crash and the sound of water splashing.

When Akane opened her eyes a very wet and very female Onna-Ranma was holding her. Off to the side was the goldfish salesman that had been riding towards them and his wrecked bike. Akane struggled to get away from Onna-Ranma. "Let me go you pervert!" 

"Akane! Would you please _quit_ jumping to conclusions about me!" Onna-Ranma said hotly as he sat the other girl on her feet and stood up.

"What am I supposed to think when a _boy_ asks me what I'm wearing under my dress?! Huh?!" Akane replied just as hotly back.

Onna-Ranma worked on calming himself down. He knew that getting angry wasn't going to get him anywhere. *Remember, it takes two to argue. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1,* Ranma recited to himself as he took a deep breath and exhaled. "Akane. Please calm down and listen to me. I'm sorry that I yelled at you, but I was only trying to help," Onna-Ranma said calmly.

"Oh, and how was that question supposed to help, huh?!" Akane said still angry, but calming down due to Onna-Ranma's now calm state.

Onna-Ranma pointed to the groaning salesman that was just standing back up and responded, "It was actually, meant to be a rheti… rheta… rhetu… a question you don't answer. If you would have waited another second, I was going to say that unless you have on shorts under there, I didn't think you wanted to be on the fence when the salesman rode by." 

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that," Akane said as her anger disappeared. "Sorry," she finished sheepishly as she blushed and giggled in embarrassment.

"That's okay. Just try to hear me out from now on, okay?" Onna-Ranma said as he helped the salesman to his feet. "Are you okay?" he asked the salesman.

"Yeah, I'm fine. How are you and your friend?"

"We're okay."

"Why were you walking on the fence anyway?"

"Balance practice. I guess I need some more," Akane laughed nervously as she twisted her toe into the pavement.

"I don't know. You were doing pretty good for a while," the salesman said to Akane with a smile. "You two run along to school now. I can take care of this," he laughed as he started to clean up the mess.

*****************************************************************

When the couple reached the next block they doubled back around and headed to Dr. Tofu's office.

"Wow, Akane you can pack some power into your blows," Onna-Ranma said as he rubbed his cheek.

"I'm sorry about that, but you have to admit that did sound perverted."

"Yeah, I guess it did," Onna-Ranma laughed. He smiled and ran on as he continued,  "But don't worry about it. All friends fight sometimes." 

"Oh, by the way Ranma, it's rhetorical."

"What is?"

"A question that you don't expect a response to. It's a rhetorical question."

"That's right! Whenever I hang around Pop for too long my language goes to hell," Onna-Ranma swore as they approached the corner of Dr. Tofu's office.

Akane led Onna-Ranma into the clinic. "You might as well come in. The receptionist isn't working today." 

"What about the curse?"

"You know, Ranma. We might as well tell him. I have a feeling we're going to be stopping here a lot," Akane said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

*****************************************************************

"Doctor Tofu?" Akane hollered as she and Onna-Ranma walked into the clinic.

"Hey, Doc. You in here?" Onna-Ranma hollered as he stuck his head in one of the rooms.

Akane headed down the hall and into a side room. "Hmm… He must've gone somewhere real quick. Oh well, I know where the hot water is." 

Onna-Ranma was left standing in the main room with his senses extended to their max. There was no way he was letting the doctor sneak up on him again. A few seconds later Onna-Ranma sensed the doctor coming from down the street.

*****************************************************************

"Hmmm… A curse from the legendary training grounds of Jusenkyo. I didn't actually believe that they existed," Tofu said after Akane turned Onna-Ranma male again. "Woah! That is one nasty bruise you've got on your cheek there," Tofu observed when Ranma turned to look at something.

"Huh? Oh, its not that bad."

"Yes it is. There is some pretty deep trauma. This'll take a while to heal. What in the world could you've possibly done to deserve this kind of brutal treatment?" Tofu asked in shock.

Akane started in embarrassment, "Uh…" She soon found a spot on the floor to focus on.

Ranma noticed Akane's strange behavior around the doctor again, and realized something. *Does… Does she _like_ him?* he questioned sadly. Maybe, he was mistaken. "It was just a misunderstanding. Nothing important," Ranma said hurriedly.

Tofu examined the bruise and whistled, "That looks like Akane's handiwork." 

"Huh?! How did you know that?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Oh, I see a lot of Akane's _handiwork_. Almost a dozen every morning." Tofu said with a smile. As he walked over to some shelves, he continued,  "So Ranma, I hear you're Akane's fiancé."

"Th…" Ranma started to say.

Akane cut Ranma off angrily. "That's what our parents decided! Not us!" 

"Well, it's too early, isn't it? You're still children, after all." Tofu said with a smile as he pulled a jar off of a shelf.

Akane sighed at the statement.__*That's right. I'm just a little child.*

"Here Ranma. This will help your cheek heal faster," Tofu said as he opened the jar and rubbed a salve into Ranma's cheek.

"Thanks, Doc. That feels better already."

Akane leaned on the bed that Ranma was sitting on. "Isn't he a great doctor?"

Ranma's heart fell as he finally decided that Akane definitely liked the doctor.  "Yeah, he is," Ranma answered.

"Well, you two had better get going to school. You're already running a little late." Tofu said as he put the salve back on the shelf.

Ranma stood and headed for the door. "Okay. Thanks Doc." 

"Thank you Doctor Tofu," Akane said as she followed.

The two teens headed out the door and ran towards the school.

*****************************************************************

When they reached the front gate the boys were all standing there waiting for Akane. It really wasn't their day. Akane took all of her frustration at herself, Ranma, and Dr. Tofu out on the boys. In other words she worked through them in record time.

A minute later, Ranma leapt down next to Akane. "Pretty good, but we really need to work on your speed," Ranma instructed.

"Huh?!" Akane replied as she dodged to her left.

"ATTACK!" Kuno screamed as he swung at Akane. "If you defeat me, I'll allow you to date me," Kuno stated as he attacked again.

Akane punched Kuno in the face and yelled, "Who said anything about dating you?!".

Kuno fell to the ground unconscious.

"Come on Ranma. We can just make it if we hurry," Akane said in frustration as she headed into the school.

Ranma followed her and continued, "Okay, but about that speed… " 

*****************************************************************

Ranma was happy. Gym, his favorite class, was next. He ran out to the gymnastics equipment with the other boys in his class.

"Hey, look everyone. The girls are playing softball." One of the boys said. The boys all sat where they could watch the gymnastics equipment and the girls. After the tenth boy went the teacher called Ranma's name. So he stood up and did a spectacular routine on the high bar to the applause and congratulations of the boys. When he sat down a couple of his classmates came and sat next to him.

"So level with us. How far have you gotten with Akane?" asked the brown haired boy.

"Don't play innocent. You're her fiancé, right?" added the black haired boy.

Ranma now understood why Akane really didn't like the boys at the school. If these two were an example of how they all acted, then they were all hormone driven idiots who never thought of girls as anything other than sex objects. "That is none of your business." Ranma said testily.

The brown haired boy persisted. "I bet you've kissed her. Have you her touched her breast?" 

"No!!" Ranma said in disgust to the two boys.

"Liar. You've at least petted her, huh?" the black haired boy replied.

"You've probably even seen her naked!" yelled the brown haired boy as he reached out to put Ranma in a chokehold.

Ranma ducked under the brown haired boys arm and rolled into a combative stance facing them. "None of that is any of your business, and if I ever hear of any of you talking about her in that way again. I'll make you _sorry_! So drop it!" Ranma said angrily.

Just then there was the clang of a ball hitting a bat. One of the girls yelled, "It's yours Akane!"

"Got it!!" Akane hollered back as she jumped up and caught the ball. Akane's teammates congratulated her on the play as they headed up to bat. Akane was laughing with them and smiling like it was the best day of her life.

*Man, she is beautiful. Too bad she doesn't like me like that,* Ranma thought as he sat back down.

The brown haired boy sat back down next to Ranma. "Man, she's cute…" the boy said.

"Yeah, she is! Too bad she already has a guy she likes," Ranma responded as he wallowed in self-pity.

There was another clang as the next batter hit the ball. Everyone looked at where the ball that Akane hit had went. They were staring straight at Ranma. Who had a ball plastered on the same cheek that Akane had slapped earlier.

"Hey, Saotome," the brown haired boy asked. "You've got really fast reflexes, right? Couldn't you have dodged that?" 

"I had something on my mind," Ranma sighed.

*****************************************************************

After school, Ranma, with his head bent at a strange angle, ran out of Doctor Tofu's office and past the small crowd of people lined up outside. He excused himself through the crowd and ran off towards the Tendo dojo.

"It's a shame," said one of the people.

"Yeah, he's usually such a good doctor," answered another as they watched the unfortunate young man run off down the street.

*****************************************************************

Ranma was running down the street and thinking to himself.

*Man, that was strange. Akane and I go over to Doc's to have him look at my cheek. Then I find out that Doc likes Kasumi, but when she comes over, he goes nuts and starts twisting my neck like it's a piece of string. And, finally Akane runs out of the office with a cheerful look on her face, but I could tell from her eyes that her world was shattering. I hope she's alright,* Ranma thought as he kept running.

A few moments later he neared the Tendo dojo. He ran in through the gate and down the hall, where he met Nabiki. "Hey, Nabiki, have you seen Akane?" Ranma asked.

Nabiki tilted her head to match the bend in Ranma's. "I think she's behind the dojo. Ranma, is something wrong with your neck?"

Ranma ran out towards the dojo as he responded. "Nothing that I can't fix in a little bit. Thanks for the info on Akane." As he neared the corner of the dojo he heard a loud crash coming from behind it. So he snuck up to the corner and peeked around it.

Akane was breaking cinderblocks. It usually made her feel better. But this time it wasn't working as well. She had just shattered her third set and it still didn't make the hurt go away. *I love him, but he loves Kasumi,* Akane thought as she stayed knelt where she had punched the last set.

Ranma was staring at Akane in wonder. He couldn't figure out if she was crying, but he knew that she looked so sad. *Maybe, I should do something to cheer her up,* Ranma thought as he watched Akane stand and walk slowly towards the wall.

When Akane reached it, she leaned against it with one hand and closed her eyes to block out the world. She knew that she couldn't let it hurt her. When she opened her eyes she was staring into the most beautiful blue-gray eyes she had ever seen, but her attention wasn't on the eyes for long. It quickly moved down to the tongue sticking out at her and the smile behind it. She couldn't help but smile a little at the antics of her fiancée. He was an _idiot_, but he was a nice idiot. He was always trying to make her feel better, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to feel better right now. "What do you want Ranma?"

"To make sure that you're okay."

"So you came to cheer me up?" Akane asked as she got a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Well, yeah."

"In that case. Come with me," Akane replied as she walked around to the front of the dojo.

"Okay," Ranma said as he followed.

*****************************************************************

Akane led Ranma into the dojo. She still had that mischievous look in her eyes and a smirk on her face. "You want to help cheer me up?  Then spar with me." 

"Okay, just let me fix this real quick," Ranma said as he grabbed a hold of his neck and pushed his fingers in several locations quickly. He then rolled his head around in a few circles and popped his neck.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Akane asked.

"Because, I was healing it as long as possible before resetting it. It'll be sore for a few days now instead of a week or two."

"Oh," Akane replied as she walked away from Ranma and assumed a ready stance.

Ranma acknowledged the beginning of the sparring session by adopting a unique stance known as the 'Mist of The Vale.' It was a stance in which he turned himself perpendicular to his opponent. He placed his feet right next to each other directly under his center of mass and pulled his arms back against his sides. It was a highly unstable stance, which made it easy to move in virtually any direction with a minimum of exertion.

Akane eyed the unusual stance for a second and attacked. "KI-YAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

*****************************************************************

Fifteen minutes later Ranma and Akane were still sparring. Akane was sweating profusely while Ranma looked relaxed as he bobbed, jumped, spun, and easily dodged everything that Akane threw at him. Akane was getting madder by the minute. *Damn him! He said that he wanted to cheer me up, but he doesn't do anything but _dodge_.* "Come on! Fight back!" she yelled.

"No," Ranma calmly replied.

"How can I work out my stress, if you won't fight back?" Akane asked as she tried a midlevel kick at her mercurial fiancée.

Ranma leapt over the kick and away from Akane as he asked, "Akane, don't you get tired of being angry all of the time?"

Akane dashed forward and tried a jab. "I'm not angry all of the time."

"Okay. But you know, you're beautiful when you smile," Ranma said smiling as he leaned back from the punch.

*What?!* Akane thought as she stumbled forward a bit.

Ranma smirk as he gently poked her in the chest. "Heh, an opening."

Akane fell on her butt from the poke in the chest that Ranma had given her. He had called her beautiful. No one, that _counted_, had ever called her that before. Then the realization of what had just happened set in. *Wait a minute. He beat me!* "Hey, that was dirty! That didn't count!" Akane cried from the floor.

Ranma just smiled at her and walked around the dojo whistling.

*****************************************************************

Kasumi, Ranma, and Akane were clearing the last of the dishes from the table when there was a loud crash from the family room. All three of them rushed towards the family room, with Ranma in the lead. When they rushed in they all boggled at the sight before them. Kuno was standing on the porch, with the door slightly dislodged. He was wearing the dress clothes of a traditional samurai and had his bokken pushed through his sash. Soun and Genma-panda were sitting at the go board and staring at Kuno.

"I noble sir am Kuno Tatewaki. Third Year. Captain of the Kendo club. Undefeated new star of the high school fencing world. But my peers call me… the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Kuno said to Soun as thunder sounded in the clear sky behind him.

"Nice to meet you Kuno. Now, why did you break my door?" Soun asked in irritation as he stood from the go board.

As soon as Soun stood up Genma reached over and rearranged the pieces.

Kuno struck a confident pose and said, "I've come to bequest the hand of your lovely daughter." 

Soun cheered up immediately and his eyes started to glisten from the tears forming. "Well then, that is a different matter." 

"What?!" cried Akane and Ranma.

"Well, Akane. You're engaged now. So why shouldn't Nabiki be engaged to this nice young man?" Soun asked his youngest daughter in bewilderment.

"What?! There's no way I'm going to marry Kuno," yelled Nabiki.

Kuno tried to interrupt. "Ummm… Noble scion of house Tendo…" 

"Now Nabiki. This is the first young man that has ever come over to the house. It would be rude to just dismiss him outright," Soun pleaded with his daughter as his voiced cracked.

Nabiki sneered at her father and growled, "No! Besides, I don't think that Kuno is talking about me." 

"Really?! I didn't realize that you were interested in younger men, Kasumi," Soun said in surprise as he turned to his eldest daughter, tears now forgotten.

Kuno tried to intercede again. "Mr. Tendo! I'm not…" 

"I'm _not_ father," Kasumi replied in her polite, but firm tone.

Soun was now thoroughly confused. "Then why would this young man come to the house seeking your hand in marriage?" 

"I'M NOT!" Kuno finally screamed as Ranma and Akane were both trying to keep from laughing.

"There is no need for that kind of rude behavior," Soun said as he turned back to face Kuno. "Besides, Nabiki and Kasumi are my only daughters who aren't already betrothed."

"That is the matter which I have come to discuss with you this day," Kuno said in exasperation at dealing with Soun. "The great and mighty Kuno Tatewaki has come seeking Tendo Akane's hand in marriage," Kuno said with an air of haughtiness.

"Oh! Well, sorry, but she's already engaged," Soun said as he waved off the pompous young man and headed back to the go board.

"I shall never accept the engagement of my beautiful huntress to a rough and common boor such as this Saotome," Kuno bellowed at Soun as he drew his bokken and pointed it at Ranma.

Soun was starting to get upset with the impudent youth who had invaded his house. "Now listen, young man. I'll not dishonor my family or the Saotome family by not honoring the agreement for the two to marry."

"Then, I Kuno Tatewaki challenge you," Kuno said as he turned to face Soun.

"What?" Soun said with a little laugh.

"If you defeat me I shall allow you to betroth your daughter to me," Kuno cried as he swung at Soun.

"Are you _crazy_?!" Soun cried as he ducked under the strike aimed at his head.

Kuno bellowed his war cry as he made several fast strikes at Soun. "STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE!"

Soun sidestepped the strikes and closed the distance between him and Kuno as Kuno's strikes shattered a section of the wall that was behind Soun. When he was within striking distance he struck the boy in the chest and knocked him out into the yard. "Dang. That boy wasn't half bad," Soun said as he walked out onto the porch to see how Kuno was.

"Have at you," Kuno yelled as he swung at Soun's side.

Soun leapt over the strike and came down with a spin and swept Kuno's legs from under him. He then used his momentum to continue the spin and kicked Kuno in the face with the same foot that he swept him with. This knocked Kuno back, but he started to rise slowly. "Sheesh. Doesn't he give up?" Soun cried in exasperation.

"No. Mr. Tendo, he doesn't. And if you had done your proper duty as Akane's father you would know this," said Ranma irately to Soun.

"What are you talking about?" Soun asked in anger at the boy's hubris.

"Did you realize that your daughter has had to fight Kuno every morning at school because he wants to date her? Did you realize that your daughter has had to fight a crowd of boys every morning who want to beat her up so that they can date her, because of Kuno? Did you realize that this has been going on for a while?" Ranma asked as his own anger was rising.

"No," Soun said sheepishly. Had he neglected his daughters so much that he didn't realize that this was happening to his baby? If so, then Ranma was correct. It was his duty to take care of this delusional young man. With that thought in mind Soun turned to the now standing Kuno.

"I fight on," said Kuno unsteadily.

"No. Now you are defeated," Soun said as he adopted a defensive stance.

"I shall fell you," Kuno cried as he ran towards Soun with his bokken held high.

Soun waited until Kuno was bringing his sword down and ninja clapped it. He then fell onto his back and pulled Kuno forward. When Soun was on his lower back he raised his right foot and planted it in Kuno's gut as he continued to propel their momentum backwards. With a mighty kick at the top of the arc, Soun sent Kuno flying high into the air. He slammed into the wall surrounding the yard and fell unconscious to the ground.

Soun then stood, still holding the bokken, and strode over to the unconscious boy. "Kasumi, please get me some water."

Kasumi soon returned with a glass of water and handed it to her father. She then quickly stepped back.

Soun splashed Kuno in the face with the water, and woke the boy up. "Come on boy. It's time for you to get out of my house," Soun said as he roughly helped the teen up and hauled him towards the front gate.

"Whaaaaat… happpppened?" Kuno asked in a slur.

Soun pushed the boy out the front gate as he said, "You lost." Then he closed it in Kuno's face. He turned and walked back into the house where the others had gathered in the family room. Soun started to cry when he saw Akane. "Akane, I'm sorry that I didn't take care of this sooner."

"It's okay, Daddy. You didn't know, and I don't mind the fights. It gave me a chance to practice." Akane sounded unconvincing even to herself.

Soun then hugged her as he bawled his eyes out. "Ranma, thank you for helping this old man realize that my daughters do still need me," he said through sniffles.

"You're welcome sir," Ranma said with a smile. "Pop and I'll finish cleaning up. You guys just enjoy some time together," Ranma said as he turned, grabbed his father, and walked back to the kitchen with him in tow.

*****************************************************************

Akane walked into her room while drying her hair.

She sat down on her bed and finished drying her hair while she thought. *Man that Kuno can be an annoyance, but I have to admit it was pretty fun watching Daddy deal with him for a change. I've never seen him act so alive. Sometimes Ranma really amazes me.* She sighed as she lay back on her bed. *What about Ranma? He's such a mystery. Most of the time he is so nice, but other times he can be such a jerk. Like tonight. He was so rude to Daddy, but his harsh words actually helped. He also wouldn't fight me earlier. Like he thinks I'm made out of glass. Only a jerk would not realize that I'm a martial artist too, but he did say that I have a lot of potential and offered to train me. Then, when we were sparring, he said that I was 'beautiful when I smiled.'*

She stood and grabbed a mirror off of her desk. *Did he mean that, or was he just trying to distract me?* She looked in the mirror and smiled at herself.

"Wow Akane, I would've never figured you'd be one for narcisstism," Ranma said with a smile as he knelt inside of Akane's window.

Akane looked up in shock at the pig-tailed martial artist in her window. She was about to pound him into next week, when she realized that he was smiling at her. She quickly realized that he was teasing her again. *Well at least I'm getting a _little_ better about not jumping to conclusions with him.* Akane sat the mirror down and smirked up at her fiancé. *Two can play that game.*

"That's narcissism Ranma, not narcis_st_ism, and I'm not." She was very glad that she hadn't hit him before. This was the perfect opportunity to get some answers from him. "Why don't you come on in, Ranma?"

"Umm… Okay. But why?" Ranma asked nervously, as he crawled in the window.

"I just wanted to talk. Can't friends just talk?"

"Sure. So what ya want to talk about?" Ranma asked as he sat backwards in the chair at her desk.

This question took Akane by surprise. What did she want to talk about? Akane thought about it as she sat on her bed. "Well, for starters, why did you offer to train me and then insult me by not attacking me when we sparred? You aren't going to break me, Ranma. I'm a martial artist too," Akane finished angrily.

"Akane, I know that you're a martial artist. I wouldn't have offered to help you if I didn't think that you were. But, to answer your question I have another. Have you ever seen me attack anyone?"

"No. And that brings up another question. Why didn't you just attack Kuno that first day at school? Why were you going to try and wear him down? What's going on?" Akane asked suspiciously.

"I'm actually glad that you asked. It's something that you need to know, but I don't feel too comfortable telling," Ranma said as he leaned on the back of the chair.

"A little over a year ago, Pop decided that he was going to start me on a training program that would make me the greatest martial artist on the planet. It was called the Soul of Shiva. We found out later that it was a banned training program that was thought to be destroyed thousands of years ago," Ranma said with a sigh.

"What happened?" Akane asked with a little worry creeping into her voice.

"Well, apparently Pop had the instructions for a few years and had been _acquiring_ the necessary components since then. The final thing was a plant that is only found in the remote mountains of Tibet. So we traveled there and obtained some. A week later he started the training," Ranma said with an involuntary shiver.

*What did Uncle Saotome do to him?!* Akane thought.

"The training was part magic, part martial arts training, and part brainwashing. The important part is actually a spell that sends the trainee to a different realm. The original creators of the training forced a clan of benevolent oni to help in the training. While about eight days passed here, my spirit spent nearly two years in that forsaken realm. My sensei there was a good being. He and his ancestors hated what they were forced to do, but as long as even a single copy of the training existed they were bound to train those that were subjected to the spell. While there I battled a group of destructive and evil beings known as the horde. They were the ones that gave me the scars on my back." Ranma paused as he turned and lifted his shirt.

"If it was only your spirit how did your body get the scars?" Akane asked in shock at what she was being told.

"I don't exactly understand it all. Something about my body being linked across the realms. What happened there happened here. That way the physical training that I underwent there helped my body here. To make a long story short, I trained almost continually for the first year. Then I fought the horde almost daily the last year that I was there. This made me incredibly strong, fast, aware, and supplied me with a huge reserve of ki. Due to the magic of the training a large portion of this was linked to my battle aura. Therefore, while I am stronger and faster when I am just normally walking around or anytime I'm not accessing my battle aura, when I do access my battle aura, my strength, speed, and ki increase dramatically. In fact they increase to the point that I am not able to sufficiently control myself. If I were to grasp a rock as gently as if I were grasping an egg I would crush the rock," Ranma said sadly.

*My god! That would explain why when he tapped me it felt like I ran into a wall,* Akane thought, but then she realized something. "But, I've seen you spar with Uncle Saotome. How can you do that without hurting him?"

"When I completed the training, I was left in a weakened state for a while due to the transfer back. I found out later that it was so that the original trainers could condition the trainee to a 'control'."

"A what?"

"A control. I'm not exactly sure what all it is, but it has to do with someone that they would use to keep the trainee from turning on them. Pop, never completed that part."

"Oh."

Ranma leaned back against the desk and continued. "So anyway, about a week after the training we were wandering around. I was back to my normal strength, but I had not sparred or fought at all. We stopped in a town to stay with a local martial artist. While there I met a couple of Japanese students. I started mouthing off to them about how good I was and they attacked me. While I was defending myself, I accessed my battle aura for the first time since my training. This was where the training, or brainwashing, took over and I killed them both. It scared me that I could cause such damage and have so little control. My entire life I had been trained to temper strength with control and I could no longer do that. I had been raised to not attack those that couldn't defend themselves. My inability to control myself, and the fact that I didn't avoid the fight caused two deaths that need not have been. I haven't used the hard arts in combat since then." 

"Ranma, I'm so sorry. No one should have to go through what you went through," Akane said with unshed tears in her eyes.

"It's okay, Akane. At least I made sure no one else will ever have to be subjected to the Soul of Shiva," Ranma said as he reached out and squeezed her hand. "Besides, a couple of weeks later, we met grandmother. She's an old martial arts master who's traveled all over and mastered a number of martial arts including many softer arts. She agreed to train me and traveled with us for the rest of the year. She taught me a lot in that time. She taught me how to defend myself without accessing my battle aura or actually attacking my opponent. She taught me social skills and how to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. She taught me about literature, history, and languages. She also worked with me on overcoming the psychological side of the training. At the same time pop worked with me on physical control both in and out of the training and on toughening me up. I've gotten to the point now where I don't have to worry about hurting anyone while I'm out of the training. I am also able to access a small part of my battle aura without accessing all of the Soul of Shiva. When pop and I spar we're working on accessing a small part of my battle aura without accessing the whole training. Hopefully, I'll one day be able to access my entire battle aura, without having the training take over," Ranma finished with hope.

"Ranma, what happened to grandmother?" Akane asked, as she feared the worst.

"Nothing. She had some stuff that she had to take care of in China. She should be coming here in a few weeks or so. There is still a lot of my training to complete."

"Is she cursed?"

"Nah, she left a couple of weeks before we went to Jusenkyo. She's too smart to have went anywhere like that."

"I can't wait to meet her," Akane said with a smile.

Ranma smiled back at her. "She'll like you and I'm sure that you'll like her." 

"Ranma, if you ever need anyone to talk to about this stuff. I'll be here to listen," Akane said as she blushed lightly and looked at the floor.

"Thanks, Akane. You're a great friend," Ranma said as he stood from the chair. "Goodnight, Akane." Ranma then leapt up onto the window and into the night.

"Goodnight, Ranma," Akane said to her retreating fiancée.

*****************************************************************

"Well, that was interesting," Nabiki said to herself as she lowered the glass from the wall between her and Akane's bedroom. She thought about how she could use this new knowledge to her advantage as she lay on her bed and went to sleep.

*****************************************************************


	6. The Hunter and the Bunny

**Softer Side**

Version 3-9.29.02

I do not own any of the Ranma ½ characters. However, I will if I ever strike it rich.

**Ch 6: The Hunter and the Bunny**

"BOAR! RING THE BELL! A WILD BOAR'S A COMIN'!"

Ryoga heard the alarm raised. He heard the beast erupt from the forest and tear into the village. He heard the townspeople scatter for safety as the boar rampaged through their village like a demon possessed. None of these things concerned him. Both he and his companion were more than capable of handling the boar, if it was stupid enough to mess with them.

It was stupid enough. 

The boar saw the couple walking down the street and charged them. "I'll handle this," Ryoga said, with a bored tone, as he pulled a bamboo umbrella from the top of his backpack, and turned to face the charging boar. 

When the boar was about an arm's length away, Ryoga thrust the umbrella out and hit the boar in the nose, pushing it back about a meter. The boar was stunned for a second by the severity of the blow. However, it soon recovered and lunged at Ryoga again. Ryoga let the boar come forward as he dropped his umbrella down and lowered his body. When the boar moved about a half a meter forward, Ryoga stepped in and stood up while he thrust his umbrella into the boar's side with a twist. The animal spun up into the air and hurtled back to the ground behind Ryoga and his companion.

The villagers approached Ryoga and his companion in awe. They offered their thanks and congratulations. 

Thanks and congratulations were not Ryoga's concern. His concern was for settling a debt owed him, and to settle that debt he needed to know something. He needed to know how to get to the person that owed him.  "Which way is Tokyo?"

"That's about three hundred and fifty kilometers east of here," an old man answered.

"Thank you," Ryoga replied as he started to go southwest. He didn't make it a single step before his companion grabbed his arm and turned him north.

"Thank you," Ryoga's companion replied with a Chinese accent.

*****************************************************************

Nabiki was not a morning person. So she was rather irate when she was woken from her sleep by the noise of construction occurring outside her window. She rolled over and looked at the clock on her desk. *Seven o'clock? Who the hell is working outside at seven o'clock? Don't they know it's Sunday?!*

When she stumbled out of bed and downstairs she saw her sisters both sitting on the veranda looking out into the yard. As she approached them she noticed the source of her premature awakening.

Soun, Genma, and Ranma were building some kind of frame in the backyard. It was incredibly heavy looking. The main supports were small I-beams welded together into a ladder-like structure with seven rungs. The legs of the apparatus were buried in the ground and it was braced with more I-beams built into a slanted cage structure on the back. Between the main supports heavy metal bars ran vertically dividing each section into rectangular holes. The entire thing stood almost three meters tall and was about one and a half meters across. Soun was holding the last vertical metal piece in place while Ranma and Genma bolted it.

Nabiki sat next to her sisters and stared in shock at the strange device now standing in her backyard. "What the hell is that thing?"

"That, is something for Ranma-kun to use in his training. Father and Uncle Saotome have been working on it for the last couple of days at the foundry over in Yokohama. It was delivered about an hour ago."

"How does Ranma use _that_ in training?"

"It has something to do with controlling the Soul of Shiva," answered Akane.

*Damn, I was hoping to make some money off of Ranma to keep his condition a secret,* Nabiki thought as she acted like she didn't know what was going on. "What's that?" 

"I'll let him explain. He told me last night, but it really is something that he should tell you."

*****************************************************************

Ranma was excited. He hadn't had a control board for almost three months. Not since they left Yueyang. He just hoped that they would finish soon enough for him to get in some training before it rained.

"Okay, boy. That's the last of the framing parts. Go get the panels now and we'll set it up."

"Okay," Ranma said while he grumbled about cursed stupid, lazy old pandas.

A few minutes later there were 18 thick panels of wood, stone, and metal fastened into the rectangles of the frame. They were randomly scattered throughout giving a myriad of striking surfaces.

"Breakfast!" Kasumi hollered out to everyone.

"Well, boy, it's ready. We'll get you started after breakfast and find out how much you've slacked off in the last few months."

"Watch it old man!"

"Well, Soun, old friend, let's go eat," Genma said nervously as he grabbed Soun and practically drug him into the family room.

Ranma quickly followed them in.

*****************************************************************

After finishing breakfast Ranma gave the Tendo's an abbreviated and edited version of what he had told Akane the night before. He described what would happen if he entered the Soul of Shiva and warned that while he had been able to overcome the brainwashing if he ever went into the training around them they should suppress their battle auras, just in case.

He then walked out into the yard and sat in front of the control board.

"Okay boy. Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's start. Now remember, all you want to do is tap them. Start slowly and gradually increase the amount of battle aura that you access."

Ranma turned to look at the Tendos and made sure that they were a safe distance away, in case the control board didn't hold up to the abuse. He then scanned the area to make sure that there were no enemies lurking close. Finding none he turned back to the control board and closed his eyes.

*****************************************************************

Akane was watching Ranma intently. He walked out into the overcast morning and kneeled in front of the monolith that the men had erected earlier. Uncle Saotome walked up to Ranma and talked to him a little; then he walked back to join them. Ranma just knelt there a little longer and then looked up at them with a small amount of concern evident on his face. He finally faced the control board again, stood up, and approached it.

*****************************************************************

Ranma reached into his mind and searched for the center that Grandmother had taught him to build. When he found it he started with a tap to a steel plate. It shook slightly signaling a good hit. He then leapt and tapped a piece of stone. It also shook slightly signaling a good hit. He slowly started to speed up his taps, while concentrating on controlling the strength of his taps and limiting the amount of battle aura that he accessed.

After a dozen minutes he was tapping every few seconds and some taps stopped short of contacting the panels.

"You're missing some, Ranma. You have to hit them," Genma said.

Ranma heard his father's reprimand and started to make sure that he at least contacted the panels. When he tapped one of the stone panels it cracked in a spider web pattern where his finger touched. Within a half a minute all of the stone panels were shattered. The wood soon followed. Ranma was then glowing with a dim electric blue aura and striking two plates a second. The metal panels were the only ones left and they had several small dents.

"That's as far as I can push it Pop," Ranma said as he stopped and dropped his battle aura.

Genma stepped off of the porch and pulled a small wagon full of metal plates out to the control board. "Okay, then let's get set up for control training in the Soul of Shiva."

It took Ranma and Genma a couple of minutes to replace all of the panels with a myriad of thick steel plates. Some of the panels were 5 millimeters thick, some were 10 millimeter thick, and some were 15 millimeters thick. After the panels were in place, Genma walked back over and joined the others.

Ranma drew forth his battle aura. At first it was a light electric blue, but it soon turned into a dark navy blue. The sensation of the battle aura exploding over him was intoxicating. The training tried to take control, but Ranma fought it off again as he focused on his center and willed his conscious mind to remain in control. He then opened his eyes and approached the control board.

"He's in the Soul of Shiva now," Genma whispered.

Ranma started by slowly placing his finger on one of the metal panels. He then slowly pulled his arm back in a jerky motion and touched another panel. He continued to do this at a snail's pace for a while. He was slowly building the speed of his touches and at times some of the panels would shake as if struck.

*****************************************************************

"Well, this is disappointing. I thought that he was some kind of martial arts _god_ when he was in the Soul of Shiva," Nabiki said with a bored tone.

"Just watch and you will see some of power of the Soul of Shiva," Genma replied.

"If you says so, but I can't imagine someone who only touches things as being that dangerous. I mean he isn't even doing it quickly."

*****************************************************************

Ranma was sweating profusely by now. The exertion of keeping himself moving so slowly was straining him more than he remembered. He was still touching the panels at a very slow pace, but it was slowly increasing. However, some of his touches were starting to not only shake the panels but also dent the thinner ones. Ranma touched a medium thickness panel and then slowly pulled his arm back and started to touch a thick panel, when his control slipped.

*****************************************************************

Nabiki watched Ranma's arm move forward in the shaky, slow motion way that it had for the past couple of minutes. Then it slammed forward and back so fast she had trouble tracking it, but the evidence that it had moved was there for her to see. In the center of the thick panel was a hole.

"Holy shit! He just put a hole in a piece of 15-millimeter thick steel with his _finger_!" Nabiki exclaimed.

"Yeah, and that was a slow tap for the Soul of Shiva," Genma sadly replied as Ranma started to move at the slow, shaky pace of before.

*****************************************************************

Twenty minutes later, an exhausted Ranma was still working on his control with the control board. However, the frame of the device was bent in a few places and several of the panels were missing. None of the remaining panels were whole. 

Ranma had lost control of his speed and strength many times in this session and all of the Tendos were still transfixed by the incredible displays of power and speed. Which were happening more and more often as the session progressed.

"That's enough for today Ranma," Genma said to Onna-Ranma as it started to rain.

Onna-Ranma trudged past the group and into the house. "'kay. I'm goin' to go in and take a bath."

Once Onna-Ranma was inside the house, Akane turned to Genma. "Um, Uncle Saotome, if that is what Ranma is capable of when he is moving at his slowest and weakest in the Soul of Shiva. What can he do when he is maxed?"

Genma gave Akane a serious stare. "I don't know. He's afraid to find out how powerful he is."

"Oh."

"Don't worry though, if he isn't in the Soul of Shiva, he isn't any more dangerous than anyone else," Genma said with a wink as he left his future daughter-in-law behind.

*****************************************************************

Later that evening, Onna-Ranma was half-naked and running for his life. There was no way he could let his pursuers catch him. The things that they would make him do would be unbearable. He rushed around a corner as he heard his pursuers yelling for him to stop. As soon as he turned the corner he knew that he was a goner. He had run himself into a dead-end. Turning his back to the corner he faced off against his pursuers and yelled his challenge, "I'm not wearing girls' clothes!"  

Kasumi reprimanded Ranma, "But all _your_ clothes are in the wash now."

"You can't just run around naked, you know," Nabiki added.

"But…"

Then the sisters launched their ultimate and undefeatable attack. "You're a guest here, aren't you?"

Onna-Ranma relented in defeat.

*****************************************************************

Nabiki led Onna-Ranma into Akane's room.

"Hey Akane, we need to borrow some of your clothes," Nabiki said as she entered the room.

"Why?"

"Because, Ranma doesn't have any clean clothes, and we can't have him running around naked."

Akane walked over to her closet and started to look through it with Nabiki. "That makes sense."

"Hey, this'll do…" Nabiki said as she reached into the closet.

"I'm _not_ wearing a skirt!" Onna-Ranma replied with resolution as he sat on the floor.

"Don't worry Ranma, it isn't a skirt," said Akane as she took the jumper and shirt from Nabiki, walked over to her fiancé, and handed them to him.

Onna-Ranma took the clothes, quickly changed into them, and walked to a mirror.

"Ooooh, it's you," Nabiki said with a smile.

Akane was shocked at how well it suited Onna-Ranma. "It's… it's perfect."

Onna-Ranma pulled out on the top of the jumper. "Actually, it doesn't fit. The chest is too tight," he replied in innocence.

*He isn't meaning to insult me. He isn't meaning to insult me. He isn't meaning to insult me,* Akane kept repeating to herself mentally as her jaw clenched.

Nabiki noted Akane's reaction and Onna-Ranma's ignorance and decided that this would be fun. "Really? How's the waist?"

"Umm, room to spare," Onna-Ranma said as he pulled on the fabric around the waist. Then his danger sense shot off of the chart.

*That jerk!* Akane lost her battle to control her temper. She didn't care whether Ranma meant to insult her anymore. *How dare the jerk say that he has a bigger chest and smaller waist?* She thought as she picked up a shinai and turned to Onna-Ranma.

Onna-Ranma realized what he had done wrong, the second he felt Akane's battle aura flare up. He backed up as he tried to think of something to say to save himself. "Ummm… Akane, that isn't what I meant. I mean, who would want a small waist?" 

Akane's right eye started to twitch as she stalked towards Onna-Ranma. "Oh _no_, Ranma, you aren't sweet talking your way out of _this_ one!"

" I mean… I mean…" Onna-Ranma tried desperately to think of anything to placate the upset girl. "I mean, I like your small breasts and big waist." Unfortunately, he thought of the exact wrong thing to say.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Akane cried as she leapt to attack Onna-Ranma.

Nabiki was laughing so hard she fell on the floor, as Onna-Ranma dodged Akane's attacks and ran from the room.

Kasumi stood stunned as Onna-Ranma ran by her with Akane in hot pursuit waving a shinai.

"Get back here, Ranma, and take your punishment like a man."

"No way!"

Kasumi took off after the two girls. "Stop it! Girls shouldn't fight!"

"I'm a _boy_!"

*****************************************************************

About a week after the clothing incident, Ranma was running from Akane again. This time it was after school and the situation wasn't nearly as dire.

Akane was having a good day. She had actually been having a good week. Kuno hadn't attacked her since the day that Ranma convinced him to take up the issue with her father. Ranma would watch her matches with the hentai hoard every morning and give her pointers on improving, which made it more like training. Then at various times he would help her improve her speed. This was one of those times.

Ranma was leaping through the crowd of kids leaving the school at the end of the day. Akane was close on his heels. "Get back here, Ranma!"

"No way slowpoke. You've gotta catch me," Ranma said with a smile as he leapt over a small group of boys talking. 

At the peak of his jump Ranma's danger sense went from a slight tingle to a sharp spike. Ranma's enhanced reflexes kicked in and he immediately flipped his body in the air to avoid the umbrella strike coming at him from above. Since he was coming down head first, Ranma landed on his hands and pushed off to land next to a stunned Akane. 

Ryoga was left kneeling in the small crater by himself as he looked up at Ranma. "I see that you're still good at running away, Ranma."

Ranma smiled as he recognized the boy that had attacked him. "Ryoga! Man, it's good to see ya again."

"Don't give me that line of crap, Ranma. You've betrayed me for the last time."

"Uh, Ryoga. What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you running off and leaving me to face the Amazons by myself!"

*Amazons?!* thought a bewildered Akane.

"Ryoga, we didn't run off. You got lost."

"You _abandoned_ me!"

"Ryoga, we didn't abandon you. As soon as we realized that you were lost we started tracking you. We followed your trail for the next four days. We finally lost it in a mountain pass fifty-five kilometers east of the Amazon village."

"Oh, so you just gave up? I should have expected that much from a traitor like you."

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you running from our man-to-man fight, I'm talking about you leaving me to the unknown mercies of the Amazons, I'm talking about every time something goes wrong in my life you're the bastard to blame! _That's_ what I'm talking about!" Ryoga yelled as he walked out of the crater towards Ranma.

Ranma started to move away from Akane in case he couldn't avoid the fight that he saw coming. "Hold on. How is everything my fault? You're the one that followed me to China over some stupid bread feud that we had over a year ago? You and I _both_ decided that the bread feud was childish. What else have I ever done to you?"

"You have dishonored my family!" Ryoga yelled as he threw his umbrella like a buzzsaw through the air.

Ranma leaned to his left as it passed by him. "Ryoga, I honestly don't know what you are talking about." He then leaned back to the right as it returned. "If I've dishonored your family and you think that defeating me will restore that honor, then you win. I forfeit."

Ryoga wasn't really upset. He had suffered unspeakable agonies, and quite a few pleasures that he chose to ignore at the moment, in his quest to find and defeat Ranma. It was just like the dishonorable jerk to belittle his journey by not allowing him to have his victory in combat. No he wasn't upset, he was furious.

Ryoga rushed towards Ranma and yelled, "You can't forfeit! This is about revenge!"

"Great! Just what I need," Ranma moaned as he jumped over Ryoga and twisted in the air to face the lost boy as he landed. 

However, Ryoga's rush had carried him past the point at which Ranma was standing and into the crowd. From there he made a wrong turn and rushed through the crowd of students to where he thought Ranma was. After a few more turns, a wall, a couple of streets, and a small building Ryoga found himself in a thin stand of trees where there was definitely no Ranma. "Where am I now!"

"Airen in park about a kilometer north of school."

"Oh."

"That not go as you hoped."

"No, it didn't."

"Is okay. Cowardly boy not look so tough. Shampoo think we need set up tent and _sleep_ now," the amazon said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Ryoga froze with a goofy smile on his face and a little trickle of blood from his nose.

Shampoo sighed as she grabbed Ryoga's arm and led him to a clearing in the woods that she had seen as she was following him.

*****************************************************************

Ranma and Akane were walking on the fence as they went home after school. 

Akane was doing much better now than she had during their first disastrous attempt. So much so that she was actually able to carry on a decent conversation at the same time.

"Hey Ranma."

"Yeah."

"Who was that guy?"

"His name's Hibiki Ryoga. We went to the same school together before Pop and I left for China."

"Oh, what in the world was that about Amazons and a man-to-man fight?"

Ranma knew that she would ask about it eventually, and had been trying to think of ways to best use the opportunity. He now had an excellent idea. "_That_ is a long story. How about we go get some ice cream and I'll tell you?" he asked hopefully.

Akane considered this for a while and decided that some ice cream sounded good. "Okay, if you're buying," she answered with a smile.

"Okay."

*****************************************************************

About an hour later Ranma and Akane were sitting in the ice cream parlor finishing their ice cream and talking.

"That was a pretty mean thing to do, Ranma," Akane chided her fiancé.

"Yeah, I know. I used to be a real jerk."

"Used to be?" Akane drawled with a smile.

"Yeah, used to be," Ranma answered with an accompanying flick of a paper wad at his fiancée's head. 

Akane caught the flying paper and continued to eat her ice cream. "So what happened when you guys fought your bread feud?"

"Nothing. He never showed up. I waited for three days before Pop drug me off to China," Ranma answered around a mouthful of ice cream and toppings.

"Then he forfeited the fight."

"Not exactly. Ryoga's got the worst sense of direction I've ever seen. He could get lost in a closet. It took him four days to find the lot."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, apparently when he finally did arrive and found out that I had left he swore to find me and finish the fight."

"That's kind of obsessive isn't it?"

"Yep, you just pretty much summed Ryoga up in one word. Anyway, he followed us to China and all of the way to Jusenkyo."

"Oh my god! He didn't get a curse did he?"

"Nah, I saved him."

"Huh?"

"Well, it was like this…" 

****************************Flashback****************************

Ryoga was standing on an outcropping overlooking a valley with a bunch of pools in it. He had tracked the Saotomes to this place and was determined to defeat Ranma once and for all. However, before he could do this, his reminiscence was interrupted by sounds from the woods behind him. 

"Get back here old man! I really think we should discuss this!"

"GROWF!"

Suddenly, a large panda came rushing from the brush holding a sign. 'No way. I'm to young to die.'

As the panda rushed toward Ryoga he attempted to jump out of the way but was swatted aside as the panda ran on in a blind panic. He landed on the edge of the outcropping and started to stand. "Hey, nobody treats Hibiki Ryoga like that you damn panda!" 

By the time that Ryoga had stood and started to go after the panda a beautiful young girl came leaping over the brush. "Hey, is that your pa…" Ryoga started to ask the girl just as the edge of the outcropping that he stood on broke off and took him with it. As Ryoga was falling he noticed the girl leaping for him and reached out to her. The girl made a sliding dive for Ryoga and managed to grab his arm and swing him back up onto the outcropping.

"Thanks," Ryoga said as he lay on the ground.

"Not a problem, Ryoga."

Ryoga looked up at the girl that had saved him. He could tell that she was Japanese, but he didn't ever remember meeting her. "Um, do I know you?"

"Ryoga, it's me Ranma."

"Huh!? The only Ranma that I know is a coward and a boy."

"Sheesh, it's nice to see you again too."

**************************End Flashback**************************

"After that I showed him my curse and he wanted to finish the fight, but I talked him into forgetting it since I had just saved him and the fight was kind of juvenile."

"Oh, well that explains the bread feud, but what in the world was all of that about Amazons?"

"It's getting close to supper time, so how about I tell you about them on the way home?"

"Okay," Akane said as she scraped the last of the fudge from her bowl.

Ranma paid the bill, and they left the shop.

*****************************************************************

"So the Guide told you about the village and said that they might be able to help?"

"Yeah, and Ryoga came along so that we could help him get back to Japan."

"I still can't believe that anyone would have that bad of a sense of direction."

"Believe it."

"So what happened at the village?"

"My pop happened at the village."

****************************Flashback****************************

Onna-Ranma, Genma-Panda, Ryoga, and the Guide walked into the main square of the Amazon village.

In the center of the square there was a crowd of people watching a pair of combatants on a large log suspended by ropes. One combatant was a very large girl and the older of the two. She was holding a staff with a spearpoint on one end and a mace on the other. The other combatant was a very good-looking girl that appeared to be about Onna-Ranma and Ryoga's age. She was holding a pair of bonbori. Onna-Ranma could tell by the two's auras and the way that they moved that the smaller girl was the better of the two.

The large girl charged the smaller girl and attempted to knock her from the log with a thrust from her weapon. However, the smaller girl blocked the attack with her bonbori and then countered with a blow strong enough to fling the larger girl from the log.

At the conclusion of the short battle the crowd erupted in a loud cheer. 

"Well, Lo Pin, it looks like Shan Pu is the new champion," an old woman standing next to Onna-Ranma said, in Chinese, to another woman standing next to her.

"Yes it does, Par Xu. It should make next years tournament a lot more exciting," the other woman responded.

*Cool, a tournament. Maybe I can learn a few new moves,* thought Onna-Ranma. *I should probably tell Pop and Ryoga what is going on.* Unfortunately, when he turned, his father and Ryoga were gone. Only the Guide was still there. "Um, where did Pop and Ryoga go?"

"I no know honored customer. They here when I last look. I no hope they get in trouble. This Amazon village and they no like trouble making males."

*Oh great, an entire village of men haters and my idiot father is loose,* Onna-Ranma thought as he turned to the Guide and said, "We had better find them, because, if there is any trouble to get into my Pop will find it." Onna-Ranma leapt onto the roof of a nearby building and started to scan the crowd.  

From his perch, Onna-Ranma finally spotted the panda and Ryoga eating at a table with a large sign that read 'Grand Prize', in Chinese, in front of it. Onna-Ranma once again silently berated his idiot father and the trouble that he got into, as he leapt from the roof back into the crowd. When he was a little ways away from the table he heard a girl scream in Chinese, "You, stupid boy, are eating my prize!"

*****************************************************************

Ryoga was enjoying the free food that Mr. Saotome had found, when the girl that had just won the fight came running up to him and started yelling in Chinese. She was waving her bonbori around menacingly and the rest of the crowd looked rather upset as well. "Mr. Saotome, do you know what they're talking about?" Ryoga asked as he turned to Genma-Panda, but the panda was not there. 

"Oh no, honored customer! You eat grand prize for tournament," cried the Guide as he burst from the crowd.

"Huh?!"

The Guide pointed at an irate Shampoo and said, "You eat grand prize that belong to this girl."

"Grand prize? What grand prize?"

"The food you eating is prize for champion of tournament."

Realization came to Ryoga as all of the pieces started to fall into place. "Oops!"

Shampoo slammed her bonbori into the table in front of Ryoga. "I challenge you for the dishonor that you have brought upon me and my tribe, foolish boy," she said in Chinese.

Ryoga looked at the girl and then to the Guide. "What did she say?" 

"She say that she challenge you for dishonor."

"What?! I won't fight a girl!" Ryoga cried.

"You will not be allowed to dishonor the Amazon tribe like this without suffering," Shampoo cried as she raised her bonbori into an aggressive position and leapt to attack.

*****************************************************************

Onna-Ranma burst from the crowd on the other side of the prize table as Shampoo started to attack Ryoga. "Elder, what is going on here?" Onna-Ranma asked an old woman in Chinese.

"The outsider male that you arrived with has insulted Shan Pu's honor and she is going to exact her revenge," answered the old women as she balanced on her staff and gave Onna-Ranma an appraising glance.

*Shit, I hope that he doesn't beat her too bad,* thought Onna-Ranma.

*****************************************************************

Ryoga had adopted a defensive position opposite Shampoo. Onna-Ranma could tell that Ryoga was holding back. He had fought Ryoga enough to realize what he was capable of. He could also tell that Shampoo was overconfident. He wasn't sure if it was due to her recently acquired status as the village champion, her disrespect of Ryoga as an outsider, or both.

Shampoo quickly opened up with a jab from her right bonbori, which Ryoga dodged by twisting his torso to the left. Shampoo followed the jab with a knee from her left leg towards Ryoga's solar plexus, which Ryoga blocked with a down strike from his left forearm. Shampoo then brought her left bonbori upward between the two and tried to catch Ryoga on the chin. Ryoga hopped back from the blow and put some distance between the two.

In response to Ryoga's retreat Shampoo smiled ferally and pushed her advantage. She made three quick strikes with her left bonbori at Ryoga's left side as a feint. Ryoga noticed the ploy and instead of falling for the feint by dodging to his right, he once again leapt back from the multiple strikes, and thus out of range of Shampoo's readied right bonbori.

Shampoo was now showing a small amount of frustration. Onna-Ranma figured that she had planned on putting Ryoga down quickly, but had yet to even land a single strike. Ryoga on the other hand was being pushed to the limits of his speed by the last attack and was now looking more serious. Ryoga scanned the area until his gaze settled on his backpack.

Ryoga made a break for the woods to his left. Shampoo leapt to her right in an arc that would intercept Ryoga's supposed path towards the woods. However, Ryoga had never intended to make a break for the woods. Instead his break to the left had been a successful ploy. As soon as Shampoo moved to intercept him, Ryoga cut back to his right and rolled under the airborne girl to come upright next to his backpack.

Ryoga pulled his umbrella from the top of his pack, and turned just in time to block a high left from the charging amazon. Unfortunately for Ryoga, this move opened up his side for a quick strike from Shampoo's right bonbori. Ryoga saw the attack coming towards his midsection and made a desperate twist of his torso to dodge the strike. He wasn't fast enough though, and Shampoo's strike glanced off of his ribs.

It was clear to Onna-Ranma, that the girl had put too much faith in her last attack connecting solidly. When it failed to connect, she was left slightly overextended, and completely open to Ryoga's falling left forearm strike to her back and his upraised right knee to her chin. Onna-Ranma winced in sympathy as the girl's head was snapped back and her eyes rolled back into her head, as she was knocked unconscious.

Ryoga caught the girl as she started to crumple to the ground and laid her down gently. Onna-Ranma knew Ryoga hated what he'd done, but also knew that if he hadn't he would probably have been either killed by the violent amazon or at least severely injured.

No sooner had Ryoga laid the girl on the ground than Onna-Ranma heard a cry come from his right. A tall Chinese boy with long hair wearing a robe and glasses leapt high out of the crowd to attack Ryoga with a dozen weighted chains from the sleeves of his robe.

This was what Onna-Ranma had feared would happen. These little closed societies didn't like having their champions defeated. They tended to either go ballistic when it happened or cower in fear of the strong individual. These Amazons definitely didn't strike him as the cowering type. So he threw himself into action and tried to get his father, Ryoga, and the Guide out of there with their lives.

Onna-Ranma glanced at Ryoga as he ran past. Ryoga saw the Chinese boy attacking him and opened his umbrella to deflect the dozen weighted chains that were directed his way. Onna-Ranma could tell that Ryoga was getting angry and that wasn't going to help anything.

Ryoga quickly leaned down and grabbed a handful of the deflected chains and pulled sharply on them before Mousse could land and regain his balance. This was enough to cause Mousse to start to fall badly and react by positioning himself to roll with the fall. Ryoga, however, wasn't going to let the Chinese boy reach the ground easily. He stepped forward and drove an uppercut into the Chinese boy's midsection. He then quickly grabbed the boy's robes and flipped him over and slammed the boy into the ground at his feet.

Ryoga turned back to the rest of the crowd and prepared for the next attack, but it never came. What came instead was his backpack, flying into his arms, and a cry from Onna-Ranma to run for it. Onna-Ranma knew that normally Ryoga didn't run from a fight, but he also knew that Ryoga wasn't a complete idiot. Even Ryoga had to realize that he couldn't defeat an entire village. Fortunately he did and ran after Mr. Saotome and the Guide.

Onna-Ranma didn't wait around to find out what the rest of the village was going to do now. He followed Ryoga out of the village as fast as he could.

**************************End Flashback**************************

Akane stared at Ranma in disbelief. "You've _got_ to be making that up." 

"I wish."

"So why did Ryoga say that you abandoned him?"

"Well, the night that we ran away from the village, the Guide went home and we made camp in an easily defended clearing a ways from the village. When Pop and I woke up the next morning Ryoga was gone. We figured that he must have wandered out of camp for some reason and wasn't able to find his way back."

"So, _he_ got lost and blamed you for abandoning him?"

"I guess."

"Wow, so were the Amazons following you?"

"At first we didn't think so, but after Pop and I had followed Ryoga's trail for about two days we ran into Shampoo and two others. Shampoo kept asking where Ryoga was and didn't like the answer that we gave her."

"What answer was that?" Akane asked skeptically.

"That we didn't know. She kept accusing me of trying to steal him from her."

Akane tried to keep from laughing but she just couldn't as she kept envisioning a girl accusing Ranma of stealing her man and Ranma's reaction.

"Hey, it wasn't funny. After I denied having any interest in Ryoga and knowing where he was she decided to challenge me for the information."

"They attacked you?"

"No, that was the funny thing. Only Shampoo attacked me. The other two just watched I guess they were just making sure that Pop didn't interfere."

"I didn't think that you could attack anyone without entering the Soul of Shiva?" Akane said with a slight tremor as she thought of what Ranma could do to someone while in that state.

"I can't. I never attacked her; I beat her by wearing her out. When I was done it was four hours later and she couldn't even stand. After that we never saw them again. But, as I said earlier, we lost Ryoga's trail in the mountains quite a distance away from the village. After that we came here."

"That still sounds pretty unbelievable."

"I know, but it is all true. I swear."

"Okay. I believe you," Akane said as they approached the gates to the Tendo Dojo.

*****************************************************************

The day after Ryoga showed up Ranma and Akane left the school and headed for the dojo. It was raining so they decided to just go home and practice in the dojo. As they were walking home Ranma and Akane were holding their umbrellas and talking. 

"Wow, Ranma I'm impressed that you've managed to stay a guy all day."

"Yeah, well, I'm just that good," Ranma said with a cocky smile as he puffed out his chest.

"Really?" Akane asked in fawning awe as she batted her eyelashes at him.

"Real…" Ranma started to say until a spray of water splashed him.

"Ohhhh, did the gweat and mighty Wanma get a wittle wet," teased Akane as she leaned over in the puddle that she had just jumped into and smiled at a wet Onna-Ranma.

"Anything Goes Strike of the Spitting Cobra!" Onna-Ranma hollered as he stomped in a puddle next to the giggling Akane and drenched the girl.

"Ahhh! You'll pay for that Ranma!" Akane yelled in mock indignation.

Onna-Ranma took off down the street. "Not if you can't catch me," he tossed back.

Akane took off after Ranma. "Just watch me," she hollered with a scream of glee.

The couple was running down the street and splashing each other along the way when Akane suddenly stopped and knelt down by some crates along the side of a building. "Hey Ranma, come here," Akane cried with a bit of concern in her voice.

Onna-Ranma was by Akane's side in a flash. "Are you okay Akane?" he asked in an almost panicked tone.

"I'm fine Ranma, but this poor bunny isn't. The poor thing has a bump on its head," Akane said as she pointed out the bump on the unconscious rabbit's head.

"Well, let's get it to a vet or something then."

Akane cradled the rabbit in her arms. "No, we'll take it home. I can take care of it." 

"Okay," Onna-Ranma said as he took Akane's umbrella and held it over the two of them.

Akane laughed a little as they walked down the street together.

"What?"

"Ranma, it is nice of you to hold my umbrella for me, but we are both soaked. How much good do you expect the umbrella to do?"

"I don't know, but it will keep us from getting any wetter."

"Thanks Ranma," Akane said with a smile.

"For what?"

"For being my friend."

"Oh, you're welcome," Onna-Ranma replied.

*****************************************************************

When Onna-Ranma and Akane arrived at the dojo there were sounds of combat coming from the backyard. The pair ran around to the back of the house to see what was going on.

"This day victory shall be mine, oh noble lord of house Tendo," Kuno loudly stated as he circled around Soun.

"That is very unlikely young man," Soun replied calmly.

Kuno rushed Soun and made a striking attack at Soun's left shoulder, while yelling, "I attack!"

Soun rolled his left shoulder back while dropping his body slightly and bringing his right foot up to Kuno's head height.

Kuno ran straight into Soun's upraised foot and fell unceremoniously onto his back with a splash. Soun then quickly hopped back and readied for the boy's next attack.

Onna-Ranma yelled at Soun from the veranda, "Hey Mr. Tendo, Pop said that your family practices a softer form of Anything Goes."

"That's correct son."

"Do you think that you could demonstrate a few of the moves on Kuno for me?"

"Sure," Soun said happily as Kuno finally regained his feet.

"Tendo Akane shall be mine," Kuno cried as he once again charged Soun with his bokken upraised.

Soun quickly dodged Kuno's strike by leaning to the left and rushing into his defenses. Ducking under Kuno's extended right arm, Soun drove his right hip into Kuno's right hip while bringing his right elbow up behind Kuno's back and then down into the back of Kuno's head as he straightened up. This caused Kuno to lose his balance and fall face-first over Soun's hip straight into the mud.

Soun leapt away from the downed wannabe samurai. "That son, is called 'Drunken Man Falling Over a Log'."

"Wow, that was a pretty effective move. Can you do it without accessing your battle aura?"

"I don't know I've never tried it," Soun said as he turned to face Kuno again. "Let's find out."

Kuno rushed Soun again and Soun did the Drunken Man Falling Over a Log with his left hip this time. The move resulted in the same results, Kuno landing face first in the mud and Soun bouncing back to a defensive position.

"How was that?" Soun asked.

"Much better. You still accessed a small part of your battle aura. If I keep progressing as I have been I should be able to do that move in about half a year. Can you demonstrate some others?"

"Oh, that is enough for tonight. Kasumi has supper ready now so I need to get rid of this young man. Why don't you two go in and wash up," Soun said as he punted the again standing Kuno over the wall and towards the horizon.

*****************************************************************

As Akane and Onna-Ranma walked back into the house the rabbit started to stir.

"Oh look Ranma, R-chan is waking up."

"R-chan?" asked a confused Onna-Ranma.

"Yeah, 'R' for rabbit and 'chan' for cute," answered Akane as she held out the now awake rabbit.

R-chan looked around in confusion and saw the girl that was gently holding it. It then looked at the rest of its surroundings and noticed Onna-Ranma standing next to both of them. When it caught site of him it immediately lunged out of Akane's arms and straight at Onna-Ranma.

Onna-Ranma dodged out of the way of the flying rabbit. As R-chan leapt past Onna-Ranma it made swipe at him. When it landed it made a sound something like a growl, that is, as well as a rabbit can growl. It then leapt back at Onna-Ranma again. This time Onna-Ranma did a walkover over the rabbit, landed behind it, and leapt away.

"You know Akane, I don't think that your new pet likes me."

"I think that you're right Ranma. Why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll take R-chan to get something to eat," Akane said as she quickly scooped R-chan up and carried it to the kitchen. R-chan struggled a little at being picked up, but Akane held it tightly in her arms so that it wouldn't hurt itself.

Onna-Ranma gave a curt acknowledgement over his shoulder, and walked towards the bathroom.

*****************************************************************

"You should really give Ranma a chance, R-chan. He's not a bad guy once you get to know him. I know that at first he seems just like every other boy, but he is actually very sweet and a good friend if you give him a chance," Akane said to a confused looking R-chan as they walked into the kitchen.

"Sis, do you have anything that I can feed R-chan?" Akane asked Kasumi.

Kasumi looked up from the bowl that she was arranging the tempura in. "Who's R-chan, Akane?"

"R-chan's my pet rabbit," replied Akane as she held R-chan up to show Kasumi.

"Oh, well there's some lettuce in the bottom of the refrigerator."

Akane thanked Kasumi then turned and opened the refrigerator. Finding the lettuce she pulled off a few leaves and set R-chan down on the counter with a couple of the leaves. R-chan backed up a little bit from the lettuce, but then quickly hopped back towards the lettuce and began to eat.

"Oh my, he's hungry," Kasumi quipped as she went back to arranging the tempura.

"Yeah, she is," Akane replied as she petted R-chan and inspected the bump on its head.

"Hey Akane, the bath's ready," Ranma said as he stuck his head through the door of the kitchen.

Akane picked R-chan and the lettuce up from the counter and headed for the bath. "Thanks Ranma."

R-chan just looked quizzically at Ranma as they walked past.

*****************************************************************

By the time that Akane had gotten undressed and ready to go into the furo R-chan had finished the lettuce.

"Ready to go take a bath R-chan," Akane asked.

R-chan nodded its head and hopped towards the door of the furo.

Akane laughed at the actions the rabbit. "You're really smart," Akane said as she opened the furo door and started to step in. Before she could get more than a step into the room, R-chan bounced into the room and into the furo. "R-chan!" Akane yelled as she rushed to the tub to save her pet. However, by the time she made it to the edge of the tub her pet was gone and a naked, Chinese girl surfaced in R-chan's place. 

"R-chan?" Akane asked in confusion and disbelief.

"No, name is Shampoo," said the pretty Chinese girl in the tub. "But, Shampoo wish to thank you for niceness shown her, Akane."

Akane was in shock. Her pet was actually a girl. "Um, sure. I guess."

"You okay? You no look so good."

"I'm just a little shocked."

"You actually take very well. Most people not take so well first time see Jusenkyo curse."

"Oh, this isn't the first time that I've seen a Jusenkyo curse."

"Really?!" Shampoo asked in disbelief. "Who else you know have curse?"

"My fiancé and his father," Akane added in a monotone as she wondered when she had simply come to accept that animals could change into people with a splash of warm water.

"You fiancé is Ranma?"

Akane nodded her head dumbly.

"So Ranma, boy in kitchen, is same as Ranma, girl when I first woke up?"

"Yeah," Akane replied with an accompanying nod of her head.

"So Ranma is actually girl or boy?"

That brought Akane out of her shocked stupor. "A _boy_! What do you think I am a pervert?!" Akane said angrily.

"Well, that a relief."

"Yeah, I'm not a pervert, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh, that not what Shampoo relieved about."

"Huh? What are you relieved about?" Akane asked suspiciously.

"Shampoo relieved that she no have kill Akane's fiancé."

"What? Why would you have to kill Ranma if he was a girl?"

"Ranma beat Shampoo in combat as girl. If outsider girl beat amazon in battle then amazon must kill girl."

*That has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard,* thought Akane. "What? But since he is a guy you don't have to kill him?"

"No, if outsider boy beat amazon then amazon must marry boy."

Akane's temper rose at Shampoo's statement. "You can't marry Ranma. He's _my_ fiancé!" Akane said with a force that surprised her as she rose from the floor.

Shampoo was impressed at the conviction in Akane's words and actions. "Shampoo like you. Akane make good amazon. No worry, Shampoo already married strong man. Shampoo can no marry Ranma. Ranma all yours."

"Oh, okay," Akane said as she calmed down. *Where did that come from? Why did I get so jealous when I thought that she was going to try and marry Ranma?*

"However, Shampoo's husband still want fight with Ranma."

"Your husband? Why? Is there some kind of law that says that the men who defeat you must do battle for your hand?"

"Oh no. That law only apply to amazon males, not Ranma."

"Oh that makes perfect sense," Akane said sarcastically. "So then why does your husband want to fight Ranma?"

"Something about family honor and abandoning him. Shampoo not really sure for reason."

"Wait a minute. You're _Shampoo_."

"Yes, Shampoo say that earlier. You sure you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm feeling fine. It is just that I didn't put it together that you were _the_ Shampoo. The one who was beat by Hibiki Ryoga and that fought Ranma. Does that mean that you're married to _Ryoga_?"

"Yes. Akane know husband?"

"No. I just know that he attacked Ranma at school the other day and that they were friends before Ranma left for China."

"That funny. Husband no mention that he and Ranma friends."

"Huh. I wonder why that was?"

"Shampoo no know, but Shampoo find out," Shampoo said as she stepped out of the furo.

"Ummm. Akane, Shampoo have favor ask."

"What's that?"

"Shampoo no have clothes."

"Oh, of course. I should have thought of that," Akane said as she turned to leave the furo. "You wait right here and I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Akane left the furo, got dressed, hung the occupied sign on the door as she left, and hurried upstairs. Once upstairs and in her room she rummaged through her clothes. After a little bit of digging Akane found a loose fitting sundress that she thought should fit Shampoo. With the sundress in hand and a towel Akane ran back to the furo.

Akane slipped into the dressing room and heard Shampoo talking. *Who is she talking to?* Akane wondered, until she heard Kasumi.

"Oh my, that must be dreadful."

"It not so bad. There many things worse turn into at Jusenkyo."

Akane then walked into the furo with the things for Shampoo. "Here are some clothes for you. I hope they fit."

"Shampoo sure they fine. Thank you."

Shampoo got out of the furo, dried off, and then went into the dressing area while Kasumi and Akane left her in peace.

*****************************************************************

"She seems like a very nice girl," Kasumi said as her and Akane walked back to the family room.

"I agree, but her people have some rather strange customs."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"Well apparently she was going to have to kill Ranma if he had been a girl."

"Oh my," Kasumi said as she covered her mouth. "That isn't very nice. Why would she do that?"

"It is her people's law that if an outsider female defeats one of them they have to kill the outsider."

"Well it is good that Ranma is a boy."

"Yeah, except if she wasn't already married she would have had to marry Ranma."

"Well that would have complicated things."

"Considerably."

When the pair walked into the family room everyone else was already seated and waiting on them.

"What took you two so long?" asked Nabiki.

"Did ya get lost or something?" added Ranma.

"No, we just met one of your old friends, Ranma," Kasumi replied as she sat down at the table.

"Huh? Who?" Ranma asked in confusion.

"Shampoo," Akane answered.

Ranma jumped up from the table and started looking around. "She must have tracked us here looking for Ryoga. You'll need to get somewhere safe. She's pretty unpredictable."

"Oh nonsense, Ranma. She was a perfectly likable girl," Kasumi said in a reprimanding tone.

"Yeah, and she isn't looking for Ryoga anymore. Besides, she didn't track you here. We brought her here," added Akane.

Ranma sat back down in confusion. "What? When? What do you mean that you and Kasumi brought her here?"

"Not Kasumi and I. You and I. It appears that Shampoo has a Jusenkyo curse."

Ranma's eyes widened in realization. "She turns into a rabbit doesn't she? That is why R-chan attacked me. She's still pissed about me trying to steal Ryoga isn't she?"

Akane burst out laughing.

Ranma gave Akane a vexed look and asked, "What's so funny?" in a deadpan voice.

"Oh… Ranma… you are hysterical. You think that she is worried about you stealing Ryoga?" Akane started laughing again.

"Well, why else would she have tracked me all of the way here?"

"Shampoo tracked Ranma here to kill her," Shampoo answered as she entered the family room.

"What?!" everyone at the table, except Akane and Kasumi, yelled.

"Shampoo track Ranma here because Shampoo had kill female Ranma."

"Oh great! Just what I need another nut job trying to off me," Ranma sighed as he stood from the table. "Look Shampoo, I'm not interested in Ryoga. For all that I care you to can get married and have dozens of little psychopaths, all of which will probably want to kill me also."

"Ranma, relax she isn't trying to kill you anymore," Akane said when she finally stopped laughing. "And she wasn't after you because of Ryoga. She was after you because she thought you were a girl."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Kasumi started dishing out food. "Why don't we explain it to everyone over supper. Shampoo, you will join us for supper won't you?"

"Shampoo no want be bother."

"Oh, it's no bother. You are more than welcome to stay for supper and even to stay the night," Akane answered.

"Yes, it is to nasty tonight to go back out. You can stay tonight and head back tomorrow morning," Kasumi told Shampoo as she held up a plate of food.

Shampoo took the plate and sat down next to Nabiki. "Thank you."

"Not at all. It is our pleasure," Kasumi replied.

*****************************************************************

AN:

Sorry it took so long to finish this next chapter. I have had a really hectic summer and start of the school year. I have also been writing and rewriting this chapter for about two weeks. Thanks Ghost, for prereading. I am planning on working on the next chapter of 'To Marry a Tendo' now.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review.


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